8 Mar 2013

Transfer worry: LFC legend reveals fear over Coutinho deal. Genuine concern...?

With one goal and two assists in his first two starts for the club, new Liverpool signing Philippe Coutinho has made an impressive start to his Anfield career, and most fans will be hoping his great initial form is a sign of things to come. Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson is not entirely convinced though, and he's questioned why Inter Milan let the Brazilian leave so easily.

Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, Lawro sounded a note of caution over Coutinho's transfer. He said:

"If you were Inter Milan why would you sell him [Coutinho] to Liverpool?

"It's rare Italian sides sell their better players to England.

"I hope he's great, but let's just wait and see"


Lawro makes a good point: if Coutinho is such a star of the future, why did Inter let him go so easily? As a comparison, Barcelona's Cristian Tello is coveted across Europe, but the Catalans refuse to let him go, obviously because they can see that he will be a top player in the future.

It's not like Coutinho is a 17/18-year old rookie; he's 20 with some solid experience behind him, and some big names singing his praises. Most recently, Italian legend Marcelo Lippi enthused:

"[Coutinho] is player with excellent technical skills who can do great things"

Inter Milan striker Diego Milito is another fan of the youngster, and he recently said:

"Coutinho? He's a fantastic player. We all knew he was a bit special. The time in Spain has done him good. He's different to other players"

If Coutinho is 'fantastic', a 'bit special', and capable of doing 'great things', then why did Inter sell him so easily? Is it really as straightforward as the Serie A giants having financial problems, or is there more to it?

Whatever the reason, Liverpool appear to have acquired an excellent player, and unlike Lawro, I'm already convinced he'll become an important player for the club.





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58 comments:

  1. The only reason I can see may be from a financial standpoint. Or maybe they saw something in training they did not like.

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  2. Re the training thing: what do you think that could (theoretically) be?

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  3. I just cant understand how can a so called lfc legend say something that negative, instead of praising the boy whos been fantastic he goes and question the transfer, could it get any worse? And hes not the first one, these legends always have to say something about lfc, people like hamann keegan redknapp and lawro do this all the time, why is that? Why do have to care why inter sold him so easily? Hes doing great here, who cares about inter now? Really disgusting statement, this wont help the club you can bet that.

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  4. Honestly, I am not sure.

    Maybe:

    Lack of effort
    Inconsistency

    But he done well for Espanyol so I know he is a good player.

    Maybe that is because he tend to fade out during games when he starts them.

    Financial benefits is probably the best bet.

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  5. Do you really think Coutinho gives a monkey what he says?

    He made a valid point. Why would Inter let him leave if he was so precious/future to them?

    Lawro is entitled to his opinion. He did not say anything wrong at all.

    Both the club or the players are not above criticism just because they play for Liverpool.

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  6. i thought it was cause they were trying to raise funds to buy a midfielder from corinthians i think and they didn have enough following wesley's sale

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  7. It is a strange one as I don't even think it was

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  8. Why does everyone have to have the same friggin' opinion as you? Why don't you try and grasp the concept that people are allowed to have their own view, and it doesn't make it negative just because it doesn't inflate your ego by agreeing with how you see the world.

    What's 'disgusting' here is your poisonous intolerance to a perfectly tame opposing view. It's a genuine and legitimate question, and there's nothing negative about it all.

    If it was down to you, I'm sure you'd be in favour of censoring anyone who didn't toe the company line. Ex players have just as much right as you to have an opinion, and it's breathtaking arrogance to dismiss and belittle what they say just because you don't agree.

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  9.  This is what I wanted to day, my brain was just not functioning properly lol

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  10.  You clearly missed sunni's point.

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  11. Maybe you know. Paulinho wasn't it?

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  12. The financial issue is probably correct as you say.
    Apart from that, the only issue I can see at present is he's not up to match fitness which was blatantly obvious as the 2nd half wore on against Wigan. (Even so, he was the furthest player forward when Suarez got his hat trick.)
    We won't know until his fitness levels are up to scratch, whether his head maybe drops as the game goes on, but seems people are already saying he has the right attitude, so this one is a little mysterious.
    At the end of the day though, who really cares why they sold him as long as he continues to represent for us.....

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  13. That's true actually. Normally unless a young talented player is not showing promise or the transfer offer is huge/need financially then clubs don't normally sell.

    Weird one. Well I want to see how he is going to play against Spurs.

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  14. I think maybe it was partly also to do with the fact that Coutinho probably wanted regular 1st team football which he wasnt getting at Inter. I think a lot of people forget the player themselves in these circumstances and what is best for his career. Perhaps he thought it was time to move on after a long time and only a handful of senior appearances for Inter.

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  15. Maybe they wanted to do Liverpool a favour?

    Maybe they just didnt think he would fit in with their future plans? Or maybe Coutinho asked if they would accept the bid?

    I really hope he turns out to be good. We need a creative player like him.

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  16. I think Lawro's point was a legitimate one.

    I.E. Sneijder was allowed to leave very cheaply considering he is a "world class" player.

    The reason was because Inter wanted him to take a pay cut. Thus they wanted his massive wages off the wage bill and that was the reason why they let an important 1st team player go on the cheap.

    The same applies to Coutinho. Moratti said that Coutinho was the "future of Inter" and team mates kept praising him yet he was allowed to leave for cheap.

    So there has to be a reason behind it.

    Did Inter need to money to fund another transfer? Maybe

    Did they need the money? Maybe

    That's all.

     

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  17. Fans are quite often are the best judge of a player and many Inter fans were furious a talent like him was allowed to leave and for such a cheap price and even went as far to protesting against the sale. I have a few friends in Italy (not inter fans) but they say there was confusion over the sale and it was financial to buy Paulinho.

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  18. Maybe Inters boss didnt want players that were from a previous manager... that happens a lot even if certain players are good players. A manager wants his team to be his own.

    Its a bit of everything, Inter wanted the cash, Coutinho wanted to leave also.

    Its not rocket science

    Oh and Lawro is a tool most of the time pretending he knows best when all he does is disagree with the common view which is usually the correct view. He just likes to try to make himself look important when most Liverpool fans actually think he is a prime tool.

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  19. Inter are in financial trouble as already stated they have no disposal cash and certainly have no reserves to speak of,Italian football is in a dark place at the moment and the fact that inter sold him so cheaply should show people that Italian clubs aren't the force they use to be/prime example look at what spurs did to the once so mighty Inter Milan. We got a great deal he's young talented and skilful and has found the net already. I personally think that he will become a top player, top draw to quote Merson.lol

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  20. This makes sense also. That's probably it.

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  21.  Agreeing with Mark Lawrenson isn't the smartest move. Why did Liverpool pay £35m for Carroll? Answer --> Clubs make mistakes. Try basing it with your own football knowledge from what you've seen of Courtinho and not just follow what people say..

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  22. I tend to agree with you.After a long period of time reading most things (the legend) Lawrenson  has had to say about LFC, l am of the opinion he has a bit of an axe to grind,and he no doubt likes to be a bit controversial.Some people get of on being controversial,but as they say"it takes all sorts".wonder why he never questioned the likes of Michu arriving in the premier league for a quarter of the money Inter let a kid go for.Can l also say l don't think your opinion is poisonous intolerance.

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  23. Pirlo, Seedorf, Roberto Carlos, Zlatan, Vieri just a few players inter sold who went on to do great things. 

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  24. Carragher's O.G's1:07 pm, March 08, 2013

    littlepool have a history of buying dud players, especially in recent years so if coutinho flops that wont be a surprise. suarez is leaving this summer, gerrard is on his last legs, carragher is still as rubbish as ever, just watch bale run rings around the old rugby playing oaf this weekend - it's going to be hilarious as always. poor old littlepool fans, still clueless, still deluded, still think its a big club, its not, you were, now you are not. mid table this year is excellent - i thought they would have been scrapping relegation this season

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  25. Maybe they gave up waiting for him to get his fitness/injury record/effort etc up to scratch. Let's hope he can do so for us - Sturridge's already starting to pick up injuries from thin air.

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  26. why are you even on this site?

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  27. Carragher's O.G's1:18 pm, March 08, 2013

    to point out how pathetic littlepool are, it's fun don't ya know lol   predictions for the weekend?   spurs to win by 3 or 4  carragher to rugby tackle himself a red card but not before he scores a hatrick of Og's 

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  28. Carragher's O.G's1:19 pm, March 08, 2013

    they just didn't rate him, end of story

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  29. What a sad life you lead. Will you be back here
    when Liverpool win on Sunday? No. 

    Anyway, shouldn’t you be in school today?

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  30. Lawrenson is Mr negative as far as Liverpool are concerned since Dalglish left - Lawrenson must have been gutted when United got beat.

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  31. There could be many reasons

    1. Financial constrains for Inter, need to reduce debt
    2. Release funds for another transfer
    3. Non European Union quota
    4. Player himself asking for more playing time than the new Manager
    5. Player's injury record
    6. Player's attitude & work ethics
    7. New manager clearing the stable for own pony
    8. Morati's wife (concubines), daughter, dog might not like the player. etc.

    But the good news for us is, the least of the possibilities is
    9. The player is just not good enough for a club like Inter.  The Manager, who trained PC at Espanyol for few months was ready to pay even higher than us for him.

    Lawro has a tendency to criticize every decision taken by BR, probably he still isn't over his frustration for this Manager replacing his old pal & doing better - on & off the field.  I can't recall him criticizing KK after making Mike Ashley 35mn richer for a six month wonder, but he is uncomfortable that a 20 years old Brazilian International was available so cheap - must be ordinary.  Probably, from the gratefulness to KK, for such an ordinary player like Lawro, achieving so much in Club football for his legendary Club mate (s) in 70s & 80s.   

      

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  32. yes i beleive so there were alot of articles claiming that the wesley sneider sale was used to build funds for the transfer but corinthians rejected the bid so they sold coutinho to raise more funds but even after a 15 million euro bid both club and player rejected the bid... either way we finally have a true, exciting number 10 good riddance to joe cole (who regrets ever signing for liverpool in an article btw) 

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  33. Agree with the principle but not with one of the examples. Vieri didn't do much good after he left Inter, let alone great. Injuries/fitness issues messed him and Ronaldo up at Inter and beyond. Pity really. They probably had better attacking players back then in that era than under Mourinho (or at least as good) but never really got it together as a unit. Used to love watching Djoerkaeff for them, and that was when Baggio was at the club. 

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  34. It's sometimes difficult to believe Lawrenson ever played for LFC. Does he ever have anything good to say about the club or players. How he gets on TV to pontificate his nonsense I'll never know.

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  35. unless its J.Redknapp lol he's bloody useless

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  36. Well, you may have a point there ;-)

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  37. I really believe that it's more than likely reason number 7 or 8. Every new manager always likes to bring their own people. It usually means that they will get rid of players that they don't like regardless of how good the player actually is sometimes.

    I see the "rat" in Mo"rat"ti. The Italian business man who happens to own the Nerrazzuri is the Italian equivalent of eccentric Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Both men have a history of being too quick on the fucking trigger. Coaches working for both men usually have high anxiety not know when their time is up. i can also believe that Morrati can engineer the transfer of a player out of his club if his wife or concubines , daughters , dog , spiritual advisor, or mob contact are not happy with the player.  He was behind the departure of Wesley Sniejder. These folks are not the easiest people to please. 

    It is safe to say that i am not staying up at night pondering as the real reason why Inter would give away Coutinho for so little. Liverpool is a club that has a hard time attracting top class talent. Still not bringing in anyone who is actively being pursued by the big clubs. Let's accept the player and try and sign a couple more like him

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  38. I've read the same thing in the press. Not sure about the credibility of this story since they didn't sign Paulinho.

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  39. Really don't give a hoot why Inter gave us Coutinho for so little. I think that the Brazilian probably hates Italian football as much as I do. I find it hard to watch the Serie A. 

    Would be premature to call Coutinho  world class but at 20 he has a lot of talent and is showing great promise. We need to sign promising talented young players even if it means shopping outside Britain. 

    The only way to climb back to the once lofty heights of champions league football is to bring in players who already possess all the fundamental talents needed to succeed in football and just help them take it to the next level. I feel that Coutinho is such a player.

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  40. re joe cole i regret he ever signed as well

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  41. maybe he dose not have anything good to say because the good times have come very few and far between

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  42. did u see inter last nite CRAP and skint  thats why pc is at the reds. poss saw the righting on the wall

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  43. The point is he could quite easily have had something good to say about Coutinho rather than question how good he may be in the future,lets be honest to practically everyone else the lad has had a great start,but not Lawro.I often wonder why when it shows the ex players at games he never seems to be there,and can't recall ever seeing him on LFC TV.

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  44. just once in a while we will be lucky to get a bargain !! as he says lets just see.......obviously.
    usual press bs hyping young players up.
    spurs will be a tester.
    so sunday eve we can all chat again about this!!

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  45. From what i understood the Italians were chasing Paulinho and had to allow Coutinho to leave to get him different players so they obviously had other issues positionally.

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  46. We are probably playing some of the best football in the premiership and have been doing for a couple of seasons now. We've just lacked that cutting edge up front. We now seem to be addressing that so why is it doom and gloom all the time from lawro??

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  47. Financial in my opinion.

    Daft Oligarch / Middle East oil money has made everyone think that €10 million plus wages of at least €1 million per year is peanuts.



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  48. I think you both need to take some of your own medicine like you said he's entitled to his own opinion just like u 2 have.bit hypocritical I think when all of these are opinions only but u call him out on it only n have a rant tut tur

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  49. or tis whole saga is similar to the sturridge ?....chelsea, mancity didnt want him...but has been a reveleation here..(till now)..because his style suits our philosophy 

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  50. maybe he has other comitments;-)

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  51. so why did we get rid of kenny i agree we have played good football

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  52. He shares the title of Mr negative with Steve Nicol, imo.

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  53. Although I was sad to see KK go and his could have been handled better, I do feel we are moving in the right direction with Brendon. 

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  54. we have had acouple of decent results lets see what happens tomorrow

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  55.  You literally insulting the lad just because of his opinion, while telling him that everyone is entitled to his opinion. Quite baffling really

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  56. Seeing the Inter team that played Spurs, I do not see where he fitted in especially when you see how he has slotted into the liverpool fold and may have replaced Maxi link up play and goal threat albeit in only 3 games.
    The Italian economic crisis may also have a part to play seeing the same Inter was keen to cut Sneijder's wages unltimately forcing him out.Financial fair play rules are coming up and books have to be balanced as well.

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  57. I honestly think its due to financial worries, it's why they sold Sneijder. But theoretically it does not make sense, if he is  fantastic, technically strong, creatively good then you would want to cultivate those abilities into the team not sell him on. But how many times have you seen talented players making the big move but not settling in because the clubs not right for them. What is interesting whilst I was looking into this was Inter Milan were trying to sign Corinthians player Paulinho but failed.

    http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11860/8452636/Transfer-News-Inter-Milan-will-return-to-the-subject-of-Paulinho-in-the-summer

    The transfer would have been financed through selling Sneijder and Coutinho. Hold on does this not sound familiar? Liverpool sold Alonso (one of Liverpool's best player at the time) to finance the move for G.Barry. Liverpool were prepared to sell a talented player for another. If Liverpool were prepared to do that then I honestly think other European clubs would do the same due to feeling the financial pinch. 

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  58. money is not the reason.Inter splashed 15 million on kovacic

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