22 Jul 2013

Grobbelaar raves: €10m LFC star is a 'once in a lifetime' player. Overhyped...?

Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho continues to put in great performances for the Reds, and so far, he is arguably the club's standout pre-season performer. Over the last few months, former Liverpool players have showered the Brazilian with praise, and Reds legend Bruce Grobbelaar is the latest ex-Red to join the Coutinho fan club.

In an interview with Talksport last Friday, Grobbelaar - who won fourteen major trophies during his 13-year stint at Anfield - raved:

"Coutinho is an absolute diamond.

"These type of players come along once in a lifetime, and he just happened to arrive on our doorstep.

"He has great feet and great vision, and he knows when to go at people, and when to pass. He’s been sensational"


'Once in a lifetime' player? That's (arguably) a major exaggeration, but Coutinho seems to have the ability to develop into that type of player.

Former Reds boss Roy Evans - who came close to winning the Premier League title in 1996 and 1997 - is similarly enthusiastic about Coutinho, and last month, he told the official Liverpool FC website:

"He [Coutinho] got the same type of vision as Jan [Molby]. If you make the run, you've got a 90 per cent chance he's going to stick it in the right place for you. This guy knows how to pass it. I'm not trying to say or put too much on him just yet because he's still a young lad of 20, but he's got class"

High praise indeed from both Grobbelaar and Evans, and anyone who watched Molby play regularly will know that for sheer passing ability, the Dane is almost unrivalled at LFC in the modern era. For me, however, Coutinho is more like Peter Beardsley, another genius on the ball who had superb vision, and regularly made amazing goal-creating passes.

Daniel Sturridge is also a big fan of Coutinho, and in a recent interview, the striker told the Liverpool Echo:

"Philippe is such a quality player. It’s fantastic to be playing with someone of his calibre. I can’t praise him highly enough for what he’s shown. He has made my job very easy. He has been very unselfish, and it’s just fantastic to work with him.”

It's genuinely exciting to have a player like Coutinho at Liverpool, but I fear the hype could be getting out of control. After his great performances so far, the expectation level on his shoulders is massive, and that could end up being counter-productive.

The Brazilian will inevitably have bad games next season; he's not going to be outstanding in every game, and he can't do it all himself, so hopefully fans will moderate their expectations accordingly.



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31 comments:

  1. Going to be a massive season for Coutinho. Missing out on Sigurdsson was a blessing in disguise!

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  2. liverpool4life5657:48 pm, July 22, 2013

    Guy is the key master, amazing to watch. knows what pass to pick. :) only will get better.

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  3. Have to agree with you completely. Far too much hype in football - whether players are good or bad - and everyone has some responsibility for this, be it the media, players, managers, agents and fans. The way meaningless pre-season games are screened live and analysed to death as to whether a player did well or not, or what position he might play in the new season is just the latest example of this.
    It would be great if Coutinho could just be given time to develop. He has potential to be a great player but we just need to give him time.

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  4. I don't think it's a "major exageration from Grobbelaar at all. If he can go nearly a full season exhibiting the same quality he did last I think we will have a genuinely world class player on our hands(the more commonly used world class that is)

    I do agree with you that we must adjust our expectations accordingly though. I don't want to see us being over reliant on him and everything going through him because given his size and speed it's only a matter of time until someone puts in a dreadful tackle and injures him.


    Nevertheless it's great to have a player with his feet at the club and if we have a good season it will do wonders for the attraction of the club. YNWA

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  5. The problem will be keeping him. Top player. The top 2 spanish sides will be circling around him next summer.

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  6. superb first season....bur the second season is always hardest ,my fear though is that if suarez goes and sturridge misses more than he plays there will be a lot of pressure on the kid .....

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  7. if he has a great season and we dont hit CL there is every chance he will be gone come the summer

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  8. Players like Couthino thrive under pressure. Being as young as he is, arriving at a club as big as LFC and ending up one of the best players in the second half of last season is proof of that. He is one of the most determined players on the pitch.



    He also does not seem to care much about the spotlight unlike other young players around him.

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  9. great player so far, but a long way to go to be as hyped as suggested. Performing to the top level for several years is needed first. We hype players way to early.

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  10. a huge release clause into his contract please lets discourage the madrids and all :D

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  11. 'Once in a lifetime' is well over the top as he isn't that special but he is a very good prospect. That he is still is a prospect, at this point. He has done well though in a short space of time. Understandable why our fans get all gooey over him as we haven't had a lot to be happy about, so some may overcompensate.

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  12. Considering how we are dropping down the food chain, even Arsenal could have a decent chance of signing players from us!

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  13. so we didnt sign the welsh xavi

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  14. aint that the truth. I`m trying to stay as positive as I can, however it aint easy. Personally I think the club accepted medicore levels way to quick. One season out of CL and it was all doom and gloom, cant sign him etc.


    I`m not really that excited about any of our transfers either. The other clubs seem to be signing players who are considerably better.


    I also am unsure on if FSG will give any cash unless Suarez is sold. So far I think they have spent about 10mil, but I`m sure someone else will leave to replace that. I would need to see the books to judge properly, as if we are still making loses this year then its perfectly correct to not have a transfer budget, but I would find it hard ti believe we haven`t made a nice profit this year, TV money is going up so will help year after this and this year we should be getting cash in from the commerial deals done. Add to that the 15mil on wages we saved last year.


    Like I said, I`m trying to stay positive, but its hard. If we havent signed two top players by the end of the window, if not a lot sooner I will be pretty disapointed.

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  15. You know LFC fans that's how we do. We put all our hopes on one player. Been spoiled by Steven G. BR has to manage it well like last year. If need be, Bench him in some games.

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  16. If UTD had a stadium the size of ours they would have been bankrupt already.

    That is what people seem to miss. FSG are hauling out huge amounts of cash to increase the capacity at Anfield.

    They have even loaned money interest free to the club out of their own pockets but still get criticised for not spending money?

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  17. I agree Sigurdsson couldin,t lace Coutinho,s boots, we had a lucky escape and im glad the tots beat us to siggy sometimes things turn out better than you think. I think if we sure up our back four with maybe another CD like Toby Alderweireld and if rumours are true that Aly Cissokho his coming on a years loan, and another playmaker either Bernard or Eriksen sign then we could be in for a great season, with Suarez after his bans completed and Sturridge when fit again and in better condition than last season, we could easily get into a champions league position but Brenden needs to drum it into our payers that we need to kick start the season with wins no more draws at home and lets start the way we ended last season. This could be the rise of the greatest team in the world once again. YNWA.

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  18. I agree with Grobbelaar, Coutinho has all the signs he is going to be a world beater without a doubt

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  19. Kanwar is fraud & everybody should just stop visiting his website! Agree?

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  20. max you should get a job in pr for fsg......fsg bought the club and the expectations which come with it..

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  21. it was a similar tale with sterling ...i think you have hit the nail we are clutching for a glimmer of light

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  22. What Coutinho can do we saw glimpses of. I think he came into his own when suarez was sidelined because he realised the bulk of the creativity landed on his shoulders. The liverpool since january were amazing and it just shows spending money wisely can achieve a lot - and if we are able to build on this by making at least one marquee signing to prove to the likes of suarez and coutinho that we mean business we can fight for more than just top 4. With Moyes in charge there will definately be a bedding in period - same goes with city and chelsea as well.

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  23. I agree, Sterling was totally over-hyped. I'm not impressed by him and actually suspect we will see far less game time for him this season than the fans anticipate. I'll go further and suggest he won't make it to being a first team regular next season of perhaps not at all.

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  24. As you will see from my post I haven`t criticised them for not spending. I stated, and I repeat

    "So far I think they have spent about 10mil, but I`m sure someone else will leave to replace that. I would need to see the books to judge properly, as if we are still making loses this year then its perfectly correct to not have a transfer budget"

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  25. Lil Phil has been touted as the next great player out of Brazil before. That's why he went to Italy so young. He's finally developing into a fine player.



    Let's hope he keeps it up and is here for a very long time.


    World class yet? Let's not get ahead of ourselves. But it's not ridiculous to say that he could one day become one.

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  26. Yeah, he's right about Coutinho being a diamond and I don't think he was over-hyped earlier and not even now but only is being praised as soon as he came to LFC and that too giving match winning performances consistently which IMO is normal. We'd soon have a lot of problems keeping him though if we don't make it to the CL by next or next to next season.

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  27. coutinho had a great half a season for us ,but lets remember hes still young and to pile all this pressure on him is harsh,lets hope he can continue to improve this season,and hopefully keep suarez to take some pressure of his young shoulders

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  28. Slightly unfair on young Raheem; he is only 17 after all. i think by the time he hits 21 we will be talking about a match winner on a consistent basis but time will tell.
    Impressed with young Mr Ibe too

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  29. Im pretty sure that he will end up being in the top 6 for player of the year next season. the next goal for the lad will be if he can make the same impact in the big games. This why it's so important to keep LS for one more season so that all the pressure in not put on to Coutinho.

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  30. Sterling was great last season, the problem was that he was over used. The more stronger he gets the more of a impact he will make in PL games.

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