What to do with Coutinho?
That is the big question in Spain these days, one asked by Marca on Monday, after the Brazilian’s performance against Sevilla, once again, left a lot to be desired.
Bought from Liverpool for €120m + €40m in bonuses, the forward has yet to recapture his elating Anfield form at the Nou Camp, and it’s becoming a huge worry over in Barcelona.
Mari Carmen Torres wrote an opinion piece on Coutinho for the Spanish newspaper where she states the 26-year-old has ‘literally disappeared’ this season, and when you do see him on the pitch, he looks ‘exhausted, dejected and unreliable’.
This goes hand in hand with the 3/10 grade Sport gave him for his performance on Saturday, describing his overall performance as ‘vulgar’, needing to ‘add more’ to all aspects of his game where he is currently ‘imprecise’ in everything he does.
The problem, as Torres points out, is that this isn’t down to lack of opportunities, as the former Liverpool man has made 36 appearances in all competition this season, scoring eight goals and picking up five assists.
While those stats wouldn’t necessarily be dreadful for most players, it’s fair to say Coutinho isn’t ‘most players’ and a lot more is expected from the the Brazil international.
It seems like Ernesto Valverde is reaching a crossroads, one where he needs to decide what his next move will be regarding Coutinho.
Either he continues to play him and hopes things change (definition of insanity etc…) or he benches him and gives Ousmane Dembélé more of a chance down the left hand side.
If he does decide to put him aside, then another question can be brought up: is it time for Barcelona to cut their losses and try and sell him in the summer before he loses even more value?
We’ll have to wait and see for that one.
