It has now been a year since Philippe Coutinho made his switch to Barcelona from Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp’s warning before the transfer is already proving to be true for the Brazilian.
The 26-year-old was left out of the starting XI in the club’s last four La Liga games. It seems like Ousmane Dembele has won Ernesto Valverde’s praise over Coutinho for a starting berth due to his impressive run of form in recent times.
After Barcelona’s opening leg 2-1 loss to Levante in the Copa del Rey, Valverde even said, “When you do not play and you are not happy, you have to fight to change the situation. Today was a match for that.”
It has been a rough ride for Coutinho mostly due to the system that Barcelona plays in. Primarily being an attacking midfielder the Brazilian will always find it difficult to use his talents the best he can from the wing position.
However, with the midfield packed with the trio of Ivan Rakitic, Arthur and Sergio Busquets it is also difficult for Valverde to accommodate Coutinho centrally especially with the playmaking superstar Lionel Messi operating closely from the left flank.
In Liverpool, Coutinho was the bonafide star and the best creative talent but at Camp Nou he has struggled to share the wealth along with his world-class teammates.
Prior to his move, Jurgen Klopp had ushered a few words into the ears of the Brazilian – “Stay here and they will end up building a statue in your honour. Go somewhere else, to Barcelona, to Bayern Munich, to Real Madrid and you will be just another player. Here you can be something more.”
It is still early to rule it as completely true but Klopp might not be too far off with his predictions.
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