The Enigma of Philippe Coutinho: Should he start against Manchester United?

Will you take me to Brazil, if I score a hat-trick against United, Mr. Scolari?

The Arrival

Liverpool bought Philippe Coutinho from Inter Milan for £8.5m in the January transfer window of 2013. There were many reservations amongst the Liverpool fans regarding the kind of impact the diminutive playmaker could have in the physical world of the EPL.

The Impact

The 5’7” Brazilian though had other ideas. 13 games later, he had scored 3 goals, claimed 7 assists and taken the EPL by storm. Exquisite technique, amazing dribbling ability, and an excellent eye for the killer pass made him an instant hit among the Liverpool fans. He had created 7 clear cut chances for his team mates with 1 clear cut chance created every 95 minutes. He had averaged 2.02 through balls per match. His impact can be clearly understood by the following fact: For the first time in years someone had dislodged Steven Gerrard in terms of shirt sales for Liverpool.

A lukewarm start

A recall to the Brazilian national team seemed to be on the cards. An excellent pre-season followed and Liverpool fans were hoping for some fire crackers from their No. 10. He got injured early in the season before which he had seemed somewhat subdued. A not-so-happy return against Arsenal was followed up by some hot-and cold performances.

Stats don’t lie!

By his standards, 3 goals and 4 assists from 23 matches is pretty much an underwhelming return for Melwood’s ‘Magician’. He has averaged 0.5 through balls per match while still creating a clear cut chance every 125.1 minutes. So is Coutinho suffering from what many people refer to as the Second Season Syndrome or is there something more to the statistics mentioned above.

Let’s have a detailed look at his statistics this season:

	Top 7 opposition	Rest of the teams
Matches played	8	15
Goals scored	2	1
Assists	2	2

The above statistics indicate that Coutinho is twice as effective in the big matches this season than against the so called lower opposition. His delicate touch which led to Henderson’s second against Tottenham after the ball was parried by Lloris or his set piece which led to Skrtel’s goals are not included in these statistics as an opposition player had touched the ball but the argument holds.

Second Season Syndrome or Big Game Player?

So why is it that he is more effective against the so-called bigger teams? The simple answer to that is that Coutinho is a player who thrives on space behind the last defender. Liverpool’s unexpected title assault has led the teams coming to Anfield or otherwise to play with utmost caution. The games in which Coutinho has really shone are the games in which he has been given the space to attack the opposition’s high line. Tottenham, Everton and Arsenal bear witness to that as Coutinho, Suarez and Co. tore them apart.

Another reason for Coutinho’s poor statistics is that the opposition teams have realized how lethal he can be. Last season, he was just an unknown promising footballer. This season he is Liverpool’s very own magician. Hence, the outlook of the opposition teams towards him has changed greatly as he has been denied the time and space.

Should he start on Sunday?

Manchester United are having a pretty underwhelming season. Nothing gets bigger than this for Moyes. A humiliating defeat at home against their biggest rivals may just be the final nail in his coffin. At Old Trafford, United would like nothing more than to burst the bubble of Liverpool’s title assault. This means that United will be willing to commit more players forward which will leave lots of gaps behind the slow ageing United defence which Coutinho can easily exploit.

The only argument against his inclusion is that both Joe Allen and Raheem Sterling have performed admirably well in the last few matches and it would be unfair to drop either of them for Coutinho. Sterling has scored 6 goals for Liverpool this season while Allen’s inclusion may just give Liverpool more control of the midfield. Whether Coutinho starts or not is really a tough call which Brendan Rodgers has to make and I, for one am glad that I am not filling his shoes at the moment.