Still feel we (Saints) didn't even bid for Coutinho and Inter just used our name so you would bid higher. Could be wrong but a few journo's close to Saints have said the same thing.
I think if our interest is strong enough it wouldn't matter. Not being deliberately disrespectful or anything btw.
I honestly think Coutinho isn't going add much in terms of quality, just another number. All i see of him is a good dribbler, his passing and finishing is piss poor, but people could easily point to his age and hope for improvement, but don't we have enough potentials with us already. I just think it's a waste of money. I don't know where exactly he's going to feature for us, he's hasn't played much in the RW, but that's the only position i could see him in. Probably a replacement for Downing. He clearly lacks the vision and passing to be in midfield. I think this is more of the boards effort to show they are capable of spending, BR has been moaning too much about wanting more players, So the board is inclined to spend just for the bloody sake of it, especially after a disastrous summer window, they must have feared of fan's backlash. But I feel we could have waited till summer and bought a player who is going to be a definite improvement on what we have now, Someone like Ben Arfa, who's proven himself in the PL and had a brilliant season last year, and even mentioned that he'd like to play for us.
Coutinho is a good passer of the ball from what I've seen, especially in tight areas. He doesn't need to be Steven Gerrard to be a good passer.
Ian Abrahams ‏@BroadcastMoose Liverpool fans I am hearing noises that a deal for Tom Ince is on the verge of being done & I expect it to be done by deadline
Michel Bastos and Lyon have agreed terms with Schalke and an unnamed club, it is up to the player now. I had mentioned him earlier for his versatility at LB/LW, don't think it is us though, probably a Brazilian club.
He has a 76% pass accuracy this season, some where along that line last season aswell. That's pretty poor if you ask me.
Hilarious! so not knowing enough about coutinho... and rather than engaging in a long debate baout depth how about i ask this; of the options quoted what would you put together as our no 1 front 3 with say one or two "go to" players on the bench and do you think it would be good enough for top 4 or i suppose ideally competing at the top. eg. utd have rvp, rooney, welbeck and hernandez for two slots and 3/4 wide men in young, nani, valenci,giggs (nani/giigs = issues imo) arsenal have podolski, girou, walcott but you wonder about their reserves like gervinho. City have aguero, tevez, dzeko, badontelly and silva. For me our front three is a little unclear. sturridge and suarez are already must pick combo but who comes in then out of borini, sterling and downing? then the question is are ince, coutino going to improve that. I just don't know... genuinely don't either way.
Depends on the nature of his passes. He's a creative outlet who becomes most involved in the final third - he'll see a lot of passes cut out or not received by his team-mates because of the attacking nature of his play. In our system he'll be encouraged to play the ball back into the system and that stat will probably go up say 5% at least. Suarez's pass accuracy is 77% for example. Deeper players like Joe Allen appear better (90%). Lies, damned lies and statistics, right?
As I said when Allen joined, stats are overrated. Allen has a 90%+ passing accuracy but so far has been as useful as a blunt knife. 76% accuracy is good if his passes actually unlock the opposition and cause meaningful attacks
I think the first choice front three would be something like: -------------Sturridge------------- --Coutinho---------------Suarez--- With the option of Borini, Downing, Sterling, Suso and perhaps Ince... it's good enough to finish top 6. Top 4... not sure. It would depend on how players develop and form. Would probably need another player to approach Suarez's level - perhaps Sturridge or Coutinho could attain that level of performance... but probably not, or at least not consistently.
But he's been playing in more advanced midfield role for Inter, unlike Suarez who was our striker for most part of the season and still a slightly better rate at that. And Ben Arfa for instance, who plays in an advanced role as Coutinho, has an 82% pass rate, who is as creative or even more than Coutinho, and does like to go for those risk passes. so it's not an excuse really. While the stats may not tell much, it obviously would mean something. He may end up giving the ball away more often and we could be caught on Counter attacks, or he simply must be making poor decision upfront. But honestly, given the choice of Couthinho or Ben Arfa, it's a No-brainer isn't it?
Ben Arfa is almost 6 years older than coutinho!! Coutinho for less than 10£m is a very good purchase IMO. He would be twice that if he were English and he shows more promise than Henderson
Total LFC ‏@TheTotalLFC #Breaking : Now Sky Italia reporting Inter Milan have accepted 13m Euro bid from Liverpool for Philippe Coutinho. #LFC
Suarez is one of the best players in the world - unfair to compare most players to him. He's also been playing in a possession based set up all year. Coutinho has (like HBA) struggled with injury this season, in and out of the Inter side etc. Hard to say how he's doing. What is clear is that he has an incredible amount of raw talent and has that ability to make something from nothing. Ben Arfa would make a good signing for less than £10M - he has huge injury problems. Lots of people say we should bid for him in this window, but he's out until mid-March! But they are very different players, also. Ben Arfa is a winger first and foremost; Coutinho floats. He is also 5 years Coutinho's senior, making the comparison a little unfair. The one thing I like about Coutinho that gives him the potential to eclipse Ben Arfa is that he is completely two footed. Of course you have to acknowledge that HBA's end product can be both electric and decisive.
I'd personally go for Ben Arfa because he would be for the 'now' (ignoring his injury record) but I can see the sense in opting for Coutinho, i just don't agree with it
