30 Oct 2016

Carra raves: 'Impressive' £40m Liverpool star is 'as good as' Ozil and De Bruyne. Agree?

Jamie Carragher has hailed 'impressive' Liverpool talisman Philippe Coutinho, who played a massive part in Liverpool's 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace.

According to Carra:

"The Premier League has lots of great number 10's, Silva, Ozil, De Bryune, Alli, Eriksen, but Coutinho is as good as any right now".

Despite his immense skill, Coutinho is usually in the second tier of Premier League number 10s, and that's mainly due to his inconsistency, and comparatively lower goals/assists rate.

That's all changed this season, though, and as Carra suggests, it's fair to say that Coutino is currently operating on the same levels as the likes of Ozil and De Bruyne, and his stats show this:

* Ozil: 8 goals/assists in 12 games (One every 121 mins)

* De Bruyne: 9 goals/assists in 13 games (One every 107 mins)

* Coutinho: 10 goals/assists in 11 games (One every 81 mins)

Superb contribution so far, but as with Sadio Mane, I won't get excited until Coutinho maintains this level over an entire season.

For reasons I've outlined many times before, the short-termist approach to football irritates me; I always take the long view, and with that in mind, there's absolutely no point in getting carried away so early in the season.

For individual players, and the team, consistency is the key, and when Coutinho (and Liverpool) have maintained this level for 30+ league games, then it'll be time to get excited.

As for the comparison to Alli - with only 3 goals/assists in 13 games this season, the Spurs star shouldn't even be in the conversation as Coutinho is streets ahead of him this season.

^ Coutinho: £40m-rated.


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