14 Apr 2015

275% Boost: Legend claims 'sensational' Liverpool star is now worth '£30m'. Agree?

In January 2013, Liverpool committed daylight robbery by stealing attacking maestro Philippe Coutinho from Inter Milan for a measly £8m fee, and according to Manc legend Gary Neville, the 'sensational' Brazilian's transfer value has rocketed by 275% in just two years.

After watching Coutinho's masterclass against Newcastle last night, Neville raved*:

“Why would Inter Milan let him [Coutinho] go for £8m if he was the real deal?

"He’s getting to a lot higher level now, and he looks like a £25-£30m player.”


Liverpool legend Terry McDermott was also impressed by Coutinho's performance, and after the game, he enthused:

"[Coutinho] is an absolute joy to watch at the moment. More of the same on Sunday please"

I'm a huge fan of Coutinho, but I see no point in getting carried away. His current form is the exception over the last 18 months, not the rule - the time to start bestowing praise is when he can maintain his form for more than two months at a time, and score the number of goals commensurate with his talent.

Coutinho is playing well at the moment, but as Ronnie Whelan recently suggested, inconsistency is an issue, and and middling form during the first half of this season showed that.

Additionally, as exciting as Coutinho is to watch, he is not prolific enough. For example, this season:

* 6 goals/5 assists in 45 appearances.
* Goal every 7.5 games | Assist every 9 games.
* Goal/assist every 4 games.
* Only 2 assists in the last 21 games.
* No assists in the last 13 games.

It's all well and good raving over Coutinho's silky touches, but his end product needs to improve, especially in the assists department. For someone renowned for his ability to open up defences, 5 assists in 45 games is not good enough, and failure to provide a single assist in the last 13 games is, quite frankly, a dereliction of duty.

This will obviously sound harsh, but in my view, fans and pundits get too carried away with the superfluous frills of performance. For me, specific, measurable performance is what matters; Coutinho is great to watch, but his job to is to score and create goals, and if he'd done that more frequently this season, Liverpool would almost certainly be in the top four right now.

The same applies to the rest of Liverpool's attacking players, bar Jordan Henderson, who, with 21 goals/assists already, is the only attacking player achieving the expected contribution level. That said, Raheem Sterling is Liverpool's top scorer in the league on a measly 7 goals, which (partly) explains why the Reds are still struggling to make the top four.

As for Coutinho's transfer value - £25m to £30m is probably about right, but hopefully, it'll be a long time before fans discover if a team is actually willing to pay that amount.

* Watched live on Monday Night football. Comments transcribed.

Author:


56 comments:

  1. Stats don't always tell the full story. Coutinho has great technical ability, his shooting has much to be desired but his first touch,dribbling and movement is second to none in my view.

    Coutinho is involved in most of Liverpools attack movements just because he isn't the final pass doesnt mean hes not creating that final pass oppurtunity, getting assists and goals doesn't mean he's not starting the attack which leads to a goal. Plenty of times coutinho has been the man to contribute to the assist which leads to a goal which doesn't count as an assist to coutinho. Hence why the stats you have provided aren't sufficient to prove how good a player/valuable asset he is to Liverpool.

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  2. Agree re Cout. He's a fantastic talent, I bet if Hazard did the same as Cout yesterday (THAT moment of magic), Mourinho would be talking it up as he should win the Ballon d'or


    But on a more important note: Ibra to Liverpool?!!!

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  3. Also to get an assist you need a striker able to slot the ball home

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  4. Having technical ability and dribbling skills is great, but those things don't win games. Scoring goals wins games, and Coutinho's job is top help make that happen.

    He doesn't do that often enough, and no amount of superfluous skill is going to change that.

    I'd rather have a player with limited skills who scores/creates 20+ goals a season, than a player who is exciting to watch but doesn't score/create enough.

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  5. Henderson has 13 assists this season, so clearly, it's possible to get more than 5 in 45 appearances. It's not the striker's fault - Coutinho needs to provide better quality final balls.

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  6. You must be a fan of Mueller then:)

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  7. At 22, Liverpool would be mad to sell him for anything under £40m. Now that he's a real danger with his shooting from around the box, he's gone up a level. By the time he's 25-26 he'll be something very special.

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  8. I have to disagree with the "danger" comment, he had scored some great goals but as Jamie pointed out not often enough. He's a great player and a keen eye for the right pass which makes him a great deep lying playmaker but putting him further up the field say behind the striker he is poor because of his shooting. valuations of players these days are exaggerated coutinho isnt a 40 million player at this moment in time I'm my opinion.

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  9. Gary Neville was talking about something similar a while back about Paul Scholes. He said there's more ways a player can help win a match other than just scoring and creating goals. Basically it was his argument on my Paul Scholes was better than Gerrard.

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  10. Damn straight. I'd take Thomas Muller over Coutinho in a heartbeat. He might not be as flashy, but he scores/creates a shedload of goals season after season.

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  11. Fair point let's just hope he's only now developing into the player he promises to be

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  12. Two different type of players muller, plays further up the pitch, don't forget the difference in players around muller. Put a decent striker with coutinho who can finish and coutinho will look a lot better. Same as hazard a lot better players around him.

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  13. The problem with Coutinho is consistency. He seems to go out of the games way too often during the physical matches, thou he can improve on that. IF he does that he'll be the next Messi, but there's a long road. Mueller on the other hand is scary consistent. The guy is a monster. Typical German.

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  14. Spot on, Muller is world class, but Phil is developing well

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  15. 100k / week for that quality, no way, 100 m for summer transfer of course yes .............

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  16. Damn straight indeed

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  17. Correct. The increase is 275%. The value is 375%.


    Ipso facto, we're probably math geniuses!

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  18. And footballing experts to boot!

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  19. But what would you say if there were a stat for a key moment of genius leading up to a goal? Coutinho would surely be up there with the best because that's what he does, he picks the ball up deep, skills past a few players and then what? Does he smash it like Ronaldo? Curl it like Messi? Gracefully plonk it like Suarez? Yes he has shown glimpses of that and he can improve but for now, at 22 years of age no less, he is doing what is expected of him, or as you would call it "doing his job".

    So he isn't a player who scores and creates 20+ goals a season directly, he is the guy pulling the strings. Think of players like Modric, Iniesta and even Verrati; not the most prolific by any means but they add a touch of class while, most importantly, holding the team together and that's why he is one of our key players this season.

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  20. Coutinho and sterlings stats will improve as they mature just as Hendersons have

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  21. Agreed! We have to remember that they are only 20 and 22 respectively. But I think the Sterling thing is about his stats reflecting his wages and he shouldn't ask for more till he is getting the goals/ assists required; like Hendo who has a right, to a certain extent, to demand 100k a week in addition to being captain.

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  22. That's the point i was trying to get at. Explained much better by DAROVAR lol.

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  23. Don't forget about our geographical, nautical, and general canine acumen as well.

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  24. I read a few months back (I think in the Guardian), in an article about Coutinho that he had created more chances than any other player in the EPL since his arrival in Jan 2013. I am ignorant of the exact stats but that would be an impressive (and probably unexpected) achievement indeed and proves that he is consistently doing the right things, regardless of how many of those chances were actually put away by team-mates.

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  25. I would like to emphasize the term 'geographical' for obvious reasons.

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  26. Why don't you include the stat of wins with him in the team and without him in the team is because that stat shows how important he really is too the team :p

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  27. Sorry but the club are at fault f****n novices ! Not a clue offering top players way below what other clubs our stature are willing to pay .We will always sell our best players under fsg that's their business model buy low sell high . Letting hendersons contract run to a year opens the door to offers from other clubs that will over inflate his wage demands as there will be little or no purchase price come summer or worse still January .

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  28. Watching Madrid game - how fast is Varane

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  29. It does sound harsh... But, I also agree...I have mentioed a few times before how frustrated Coutinho makes me,,, But recently he has upped his game quite abit...I think those stats say more about the players ahead of him than Coutinho himself though... A lack of movement infront of him certainly doesn't help... But I notice that Liverpool have a tendency towards over playing it when they get to the final third, so even though they look exciting, they rarely go anywhere these days.

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  30. I don't about that, Coutinho had Suarez and Sturridge scoring for fun last season, with over 100 goals for th team, but Coutinho only made 7 assists... and only 16 in the entire time here... In the Premier League.

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  31. Nice elbow to Manzukic...

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  32. Oblak the Athletico keeper looks really good and only 22- probably given him the kiss of death now

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  33. Mention his name a couple more times and he'll start featuring in Code's team for next season... Talking of Code... Not heard him in a while.....

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  34. He's contemplating coming back as sheikh shamsy.

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  35. Nicolas Chamberlain9:44 pm, April 14, 2015

    Coutinho is worth more than that.
    The transfer market is out of control since Bale so we could easily ask around 40-50M, but that would be crazy. Coutinho is our future and he likes to play for LFC.

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  36. Nicolas Chamberlain9:46 pm, April 14, 2015

    I keep hearing that over and over again, and there is definitely room for improvement but how many goals does David Silva make?

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  37. yeah no way he deserves 150k maybe 80 , henderson deserves the100k and player of the year

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  38. Actually Illori is doing well on loan...he was injured earlier in the season but has had a run of games and seems to be playing at a good level...his pace allows him to cover his defensive partner as well

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  39. You've contradicted yourself....if FSGs model is to buy low sell high....how would allowing hendersons contract to run down fit in this strategy?

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  40. The fact is, with the exception of Sturridge, none of our strikers could hit water if they fell out a boat. If Sturridge had been fit all season, Coutinho's assists would be better. I agree though that he is inconsistent

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  41. I find it laughable to hear you say Mueller has limited skills. He's the first name on the team sheet of both the world champions and probably the best team in Europe. Multi-positional and hugely productive. He may be unorthodox but he's certainly not limited

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  42. It's not a lack of quality final ball, it's incompetent finishing from the likes of Sterling.

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  43. I think a better approach would have been for Rodgers to appoint whoever he saw fit as vice-captain and for the people behind the scenes to make sure that any players who are crucial to the manager's plans aren't allowed to get into the last 18 months or so of their contracts.

    Unfortunately that would make too much sense for us.

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  44. Hi Timp, apologies if my post looked like i was moderating, however i merely made the suggestion that it is very easy to sit on the criticizing bandwagon. Im saying that everyone is so quick to condemn based on opinion and heresay. The player himself has stated that the contract holdup isn't about money, it's about his future but for some reason, everyone seems to have a built in lie detector because they just can't tale his word.

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  45. Very true LFC rarely look clinical their build play, they can often look fantastic but lack in the final third. This proves that there's a huge missing element to this team which is a proven striker. We will have that in Sturridge next season I hope but for now there's a bit of a void to take us to the next level.

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  46. Fsg are determined not to pay high wages and top transfer fees anyone at the club making high demands will be sold ,Henderson is testing that resolve unfortunately he has now got to the last year of his contract lets see what happens ,we are a selling club now make no mistake about that .

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  47. Coutinho has been fantastic and will only improve as he matures. I agree with a lot of what JK says but he is now taking more responsibility since the Suarez departure. If he had a fit Studge or a proven striker ahead of him I believe his stats would reflect an increase in assists. But he's been one of if not our best player this season.

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  48. No point discussing it as his price(quality) is on the constant rise.

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  49. Absolutely not limited. He's technically superb.

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  50. There ain't a code you couldn't crack.

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  51. Couldn't find his way back to the keyboard.

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  52. I hope for Sturridges sake it is him that takes us forward next season, I can see the campaign to remove him from the club if he doesn't start playing games soon... I hope he will be fit again after a decent summer holiday.

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  53. I'm never gonna crack THE code though

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  54. Yes I agree I like the Studge. He had many doubters before he came to the club but he knuckled down a proved himself and the doubter wrong. Ironically it seems next season he'll have to do that again in some respects.

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  55. I find it laughable that's what you got from my comment

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