Prior to joining Liverpool FC, Reds attacker Philippe Coutinho - back on the goal trail after a brilliant strike against Everton at the weekend - played under former Anfield boss Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan, and he's praised the Spaniard for helping to launch his top-flight career.
Discussing his time at the Serie A giants, Coutinho (who cost Liverpool €10m) thanked Benitez for having a positive influence on his early career, and suggested that the current Napoli manager had some influence over his move to LFC. He told The Telegraph:
“I had a good relationship with Rafa.
"He was prepared to give me opportunities straight away as a younger player. He was always very considerate towards me and gave me a lot of confidence.
"He cared a lot about all the younger players at Inter. I didn’t have a chance to speak to him about Liverpool before I came here, but I believe he spoke well of me to people who know the club, which I thank him for".
For 6 months under Benitez (at the age of 18), Coutinho made 15 appearances for Inter, 8 of which were starts against team such as Juventus, and Spurs (in the Champions League). Things changed, though, when the Spaniard left in December 2010. Coutinho made only FOUR appearances for the rest of the season, and was an unused substitute on TWELVE separate occasions.
To be honest, Benitez's interest in young players is a little surprising because, at Liverpool, he rarely gave teenage prospects any kind of consistent chance in the first team. There were no Raheem Sterlings or Andre Wisdoms under Rafa, but maybe that was because the young players in LFC's academy at the time were not good enough?
Ironically, however, before he left Anfield, Benitez signed three top-quality teenage prospects: Jonjo Shelvey, Sterling, Suso. Shelvey may no longer be at the club, but all three were excellent signings, and Suso and Sterling have the talent to make an impact at Liverpool for years to come.
Three years after leaving, it seems that Rafa Benitez continues to have a positive impact on LFC.
Author: Jaimie K
Discussing his time at the Serie A giants, Coutinho (who cost Liverpool €10m) thanked Benitez for having a positive influence on his early career, and suggested that the current Napoli manager had some influence over his move to LFC. He told The Telegraph:
“I had a good relationship with Rafa.
"He was prepared to give me opportunities straight away as a younger player. He was always very considerate towards me and gave me a lot of confidence.
"He cared a lot about all the younger players at Inter. I didn’t have a chance to speak to him about Liverpool before I came here, but I believe he spoke well of me to people who know the club, which I thank him for".
For 6 months under Benitez (at the age of 18), Coutinho made 15 appearances for Inter, 8 of which were starts against team such as Juventus, and Spurs (in the Champions League). Things changed, though, when the Spaniard left in December 2010. Coutinho made only FOUR appearances for the rest of the season, and was an unused substitute on TWELVE separate occasions.
To be honest, Benitez's interest in young players is a little surprising because, at Liverpool, he rarely gave teenage prospects any kind of consistent chance in the first team. There were no Raheem Sterlings or Andre Wisdoms under Rafa, but maybe that was because the young players in LFC's academy at the time were not good enough?
Ironically, however, before he left Anfield, Benitez signed three top-quality teenage prospects: Jonjo Shelvey, Sterling, Suso. Shelvey may no longer be at the club, but all three were excellent signings, and Suso and Sterling have the talent to make an impact at Liverpool for years to come.
Three years after leaving, it seems that Rafa Benitez continues to have a positive impact on LFC.
Author: Jaimie K
I miss that man! Will never forget that 08-09 season. Seems only like yesterday, time flies.
ReplyDeleteDirectly or indirectly Rafa still has Liverpool at heart. Even he sold us Sturridge!
ReplyDeleteRafa Benitez (like BR) "gets" Liverpool.
ReplyDeleteRafa didn't had any control of who the Academy signed or sold before his last season so to blame him for that we didn't signed up good enough young players before that is pointless.
ReplyDeleteThings changed when he got the control he battled years to get.
And before he left he overhauled the academy so that today we can reap the fruits of it.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see Coutinho back and scoring. Hopefully he can keep it up. one of my favourite players in the team at the moment, if not my favourite.
ReplyDeleteI think after he impressed last season we started to hype so much about him. He is a tidy little player but my no means awsome!
ReplyDeleteHe does however have great potential and his goal on Sat will rocket his confidence.
We need to sort our set pieces!
But we British love to hype everyone up! That's what we do best :-P
ReplyDeleteI think the one quality that he brings to the team unlike anyone else (except maybe Stevie), is he has the balls to dare to make the seemingly impossible pass.
ReplyDeleteEven in his first game back from injury, he played some amazing attempts for lead passes that just missed.
Some guys attempt those passes but simply don't have the skills to pull it off.
Lil Phil makes not only attempts those passes often into the tightest of spaces, but more often than not he consistently puts our strikers in positions to make plays off that pass.
Jamie,
ReplyDeleteYour email refers to a final warning, the 'final' reference as if I had had earlier warnings? Please could you let me know if I had? Or is this just a poorly worded email. Many thanks
Nick
No it is no clause it is what you said in your first reply. It just means his worth is going up with every goal and if Chelsea were to sell at the end of the season (unlikely) his good form for Everton would price that same team out.
ReplyDeleteI made this point several times in the previous Lukaku articles.
ReplyDeleteAnd where did you read that? It's news to me.
ReplyDeleteThe only LFC players who might get into Everton's team are Suarez and Sturridge. None of the other players are better than the EFC first choice 11.
ReplyDeleteA question for all..who would you rather have??
ReplyDeletePhilippe Coutihno or Ross Barkley
I was thinking about this at the end of our match. I love Cou and have watched him in almost all of his games. His creativity def brings something to us. Plus he has some rough n tuff balance in him too which we all love. Also a great shot on him. But I see something in Ross B's play which indicates he has bags of talent and has a lot more to bring and contribute. He seems the type of player to rise up and take control and win a game. Just thought this would be interesting to bounce off everyone.
The fact this comment has been posted twice is brilliant, haha!
ReplyDelete"I'm not sensitive to abuse"
"..."
"I said I'M NOT SENSITIVE TO ABUSE!!"
Classic unintentional irony.
After Moores sold the club to the yanks instead of the sheikhs, the biggest mistake was sacking rafa. One of europe's best coaches was lost to the game for 2 years. He came back and showed what he could do at chelsea and now he is doing so at napoli. We had European nights, we scouted, targeted the best european talents and they actually considered us a positive move. Take out Coutinho and Sturridge - the transfer's since rafa was discarded leave a lot to be desired. We have probably spent the best part of 200 million and maybe now after 5 years we are finally moving forward.
ReplyDeleteYes but they are all on loan aren't they! From a value for money perspective is it really money well spent? I don't think it is, loaning players is for short term gains. Barry and Lukaku must be on pretty high wages too so coupled with loan fees insurances etc it's a pretty expensive thing to do. When they return to their parent clubs Everton will have a hole in their team and a smaller put of money to fill it. Not so great business if you ask me....
ReplyDeleteLook at it this way... assume that they can get into Europe next year, which right now they are right in the thick of it, as are LFC.
ReplyDeleteIt should make Everton a much more attractive destination not only to the current players to stay, but to other players to join.
So while it may be considered a short term fix for now, it could pay off dividends in the long run.
But it's still a gamble, nonetheless.
You could have both mate. RB is a box to box player like Getrard was and Coutinho plays behind the strikers primarily
ReplyDeleteEmiliano Insua, Jay Spearing, Martin Kelly, Lucas Leiva, Jack Hobbs. Sebastian Leto, David Ngog, Think he gave a few ppl chances.
ReplyDeleteFuck off
ReplyDeleteBarkley is someone with huge potential - but thats all it is potential. However with him being english he would command a massive premium. Maybe Everton would sell for 15 million? But would he want to come to us? Leighton Baines rejected a move to us when KK was manager - so maybe he wouldnt either. Id like to see Gerrard himself seek out someone whom he thinks could fill his shoes. Hendo is another Kuyt i.e a workhorse. But his final touch is average and his shot on goal is woeful. But his tenacity means that he is a must as otherwise our midfield is a lethargic one.
ReplyDeleteI suspect he was invited over to meet the owners, shown the setup and said he wasn't interested (at the time Liverpool still intended to appoint a director of football). So, technically, he wasn't offered the job, but in reality it was his for the taking. My own view? Martinez will eventually end up one of the 'greats' as a manager. His ability to spot players is second to none. I disagree with Jamie on one point. I think Martinez would have been more effective. I don't think, for a minute, that he would have bought Allen, Borini, Sahin, Assaidi or Aspas. For me, Allen and Borini were awful buys for the money. Yes, Sturridge and Coutinho were star buys, but the others? And the jury is still out on others such as Sakho
ReplyDeleteRafa certainly got the academy back on its feet some fantastic talent there i believe if you were good enough Rafa gave you a run fantastic manager i miss him.
ReplyDeleteNo disrespect to Brendan Rodgers.
It's going to take Coutinho time, in a couple of years I believe he will get even better, it must of been easier for Rafa to play younger players at Milan because the league is less physical, if I'm honest I'm surprised BR played him in the derby I thought he would of got eaten
ReplyDeleteDefinately agree Rafa has a soft spot for us. Nice of him to sell us Sturridge. No wonder 'the special one' was fuming!
ReplyDeleteWell said... and he gave a debut to Jack Robinson v Hull in his last game as our manager!
ReplyDeleteShelvey will be a great asset for Swansea.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching Coutinho that year- you could see he is a marvel, but still faded away during the game for at least 20 minutes which is normal for a young lad. But Benitez believed he can get result despite of him fading away, the next manager did not..
Rafa is the architect of LFC academy success this years. I remember that King Kenny thank him in public about it. But he was unlucky to have upon him the worst ownership (Gillett - Hicks) in the history of our club. He is a world class, proven manager, but timing matters and sometimes don't know what you got until its gone. I remember him fondly and wish him all the best...
ReplyDelete