Transfer Rumour Philippe Coutinho

[Toffeelover]

James is left footed and like to play from the left.
Coutinho is right footed and plays mostly from the left so both could be accommodated in a front 3.
However you'd need lots of legs, pace and work rate around them.
He isn't going to sign and probably not what we need but a very interesting possibility and would icfit and motivated would definitely bring much needed creativity.

Hooray, cheers i will drink to that.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Not really as the 3 in midfield are hard workers box to box types behind that front 3 and as a team we would be playing more narrow straight up the pitch. It's the way that Carlo has played during large parts of his career.

Would only work with Richarlison up top rather than DCL imo when you see Richarlison's goals against RS and Southampton DCL couldn't move/score those goals if his life depended on it.

Pickford
Aarons Demiral Godfrey Digne
Doucoure Allan Bissouma
James Coutinho
Richarlison

Aarons
Demiral
Coutinho
Bissouma

Whats our name???

 

[Simon Buttle]

Yeah formation wise I can see it, I meant more style wise. I just can't see it working, both would want to be the main man, both offer pretty much the same skillset and have the same weaknesses. I don't really see them working that well with DCL, who very much wants balls across the box for one touch finishes rather than through balls. Coutinho is a very good player and in the right circumstances i'd be all over it, but I don't think these are even close to being the right circumstances.

Yeah i have no idea if it would actually work or not but that's how i think it would be setup. Tbh DCL is going to have to learn to adapt his game a bit imo, at the moment he seems to need it handed to him on a plate to score a goal, which means the team can only ever be setup for crosses which makes us very predictable. He either learns to adapt or we have an alternative to rotate with so we can play a different way.

 

[mahermi1]

People said that about James mate. Barca are massively skint and will want his wages off their books and in a Covid world few clubs outside of England will be offering him 140k+ a week contracts.

Wouldnt be shocked if he could be signed for around £25-30 million on 90-100k a week 3 year deal with an option for a 4th. The lad might just want to play football regularly again.

Rodriguez was a free transfer, who is only here because he loves Ancelotti, look I don't particularly want Coutinho here,too much baggage, for reasons I have given and don't care if he's played for liverpool or not.
But if he signs he'll have my full support. When it comes to transfers your like a dog with a bone, you won't let go and no amount of reasoning will change your mind. So I give up.

 

[Lanolin]

Yeah i have no idea if it would actually work or not but that's how i think it would be setup. Tbh DCL is going to have to learn to adapt his game a bit imo, at the moment he seems to need it handed to him on a plate to score a goal, which means the team can only ever be setup for crosses which makes us very predictable. He either learns to adapt or we have an alternative to rotate with so we can play a different way.

Yep, agreed.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Rodriguez was a free transfer, who is only here because he loves Ancelotti, look I don't particularly want Coutinho here,too much baggage, for reasons I have given and don't care if he's played for liverpool or not.
But if he signs he'll have my full support. When it comes to transfers your like a dog with a bone, you won't let go and no amount of reasoning will change your mind. So I give up.

End of the day mate none of our opinions are worth more than the other. I dont think he'll sign as he's linked every season but for me as a fanbase we need to have some realism of where we are in the football world.

Turning noses up at players like Coutinho when we have Gomes, Delph, Davies and Siggurdsson in midfield is laughable to me.

Respect your opinion like

 

[Quadvod]

Cracking player but can’t see how we could afford the fee plus wages plus zero resale value at the end of his contract - would prefer brands to earn his corn and find us the next coutinho

 

[catcherintherye]

Interesting. Of course there’s always the guaranteed game time, high wages, minimum expectations, and working with Ancelotti factor.

I can’t see him throwing his Liverpool status away though.

I'll be frank mate, I doubt he's that bothered. They don't like him much anyway, and he didn't leave on very good terms. If he was that bothered about Liverpool he would never have left.

 

[catcherintherye]

End of the day mate none of our opinions are worth more than the other. I dont think he'll sign as he's linked every season but for me as a fanbase we need to have some realism of where we are in the football world.

Turning noses up at players like Coutinho when we have Gomes, Delph, Davies and Siggurdsson in midfield is laughable to me.

Respect your opinion like

Its not even our midfield either. The reality is, try as they might Liverpool still havent really replaced Coutinho adaquately. They have strengthened in other areas (defence and goalkeeper) but they havent got a player who's even close to Coutinho in his mould. Keita and Thiago who were meant to do that havent even got close.

Anyone who knows me knows I give that lot nothing, but he was absolutely brilliant for them. The way he would connect midfield and attack etc. Like you do with James, we would all watch him and see hes on another level to most players.

 

[Caolam]

People said that about James mate. Barca are massively skint and will want his wages off their books and in a Covid world few clubs outside of England will be offering him 140k+ a week contracts.

Wouldnt be shocked if he could be signed for around £25-30 million on 90-100k a week 3 year deal with an option for a 4th. The lad might just want to play football regularly again.

My judgement may be coloured by some of the signings we have made in the past. I fear we are going to handcuff ourselves to another ghost, we have had enough players out injured and cluttering up our wage bill. I get it Carlo wants players who can deliver now and not those who have the potential to deliver in a year or two but we have a chequered past in the market.

 

[evertonandchelmsford]

Can’t see it happening. He said last year he wouldn’t want to sign for us so do t know what could change that now.

 

[catcherintherye]

Can’t see it happening. He said last year he wouldn’t want to sign for us so do t know what could change that now.

European football? Being further pushed out at Barca?

 

[Kever10]

The fact he played for Liverpool isn't generally a reason why I wouldnt a player if I thought they were what we needed. Two of my favourite players since I've been watching were ex reds (Beardsley and Hutchison).

But it must be said, things have gotten a lot more bitter and heated between the 2 teams since then. In fact, I think Hutchison was the last player we signed who had played for them (other than Westerveld, which I don't really count) and Xavier was maybe the last player they signed who played for us. But since that time, the bad blood has gotten much worse, and I can only imagine how bad it would be if he turned out to be a Sigurdsson sized flop.

I was never fully convinced by him, and while he could produce the odd moment of magic, he often floated in and out games, very much like Sigurdsson, but with admittedly more end product. I was actually surprised by his numbers when they were pointed out to me by @Viennablue . Whether he could reproduce that form is another thing though.

Perhaps he could be a straight swap for Sigurdsson, which would be something of an upgrade, but essentially it would mean keeping the same system we employ now. If that were the case, I honestly think this would require major upgrades elsewhere, as I'm not quite sure it's working. It would essentially be paying £40m+ to tread water, with a player who will score a few more goals but still not provide any of the power or energy we require, and probably miss more games through injury. If Sigurdsson has 1 upside, it's that he is rarely unavailable for selection. Probably a consequence of not doing much when he's on the pitch.

He is also considerably smaller than Sigurdsson, and alongside Allan, James and Richarlison, Coutinho would make up 1 of the smallest, lightweight midfield units in the league. Only Doucoure would offer any presence, and that puts a greater emphasis on building a much more athletic back 4 around Godfrey.

If he could have anywhere close to the impact Beardsley or Hutchison had, then he would be worth a shot, but again, a lot would depend on other recruitment, and I'm not sure spending £40m+ on a like for like upgrade on Sigurdsson is what I would do. Maybe if we could try a loan for a year, but I couldn't see Barcelona wanting that. Maybe if we could get significant fees for some of the fringe players it would be a gamble worth taking. I'm really not sure.

It's a tough 1, because honestly, I think we need a lot of work. Hopefully Carlo and Marcel have a plan. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do.

 

[Dymak]

His song is pretty good imo

Olé Olé, Olé Olé, Coutinho oh oh oh, Coutinho oh oh oh.

He could be the new Beardo.

 

[Barnfred 55]

I'll be frank mate, I doubt he's that bothered. They don't like him much anyway, and he didn't leave on very good terms. If he was that bothered about Liverpool he would never have left.

Catcher. You're a long standing well respected poster on this forum. Why on earth would you want to be Frank?