6 Feb 2015

Ouch! Barca maestro indirectly insults Raheem Sterling and hails 'special' £20m LFC-star

Liverpool attacker Philippe Coutinho is in a purple-patch of form right now, and his wondergoal against Bolton seems to have caught the eye of fellow Brazilian Neymar, who is convinced that his compatriot is destined for great things at Anfield.

Reacting to his wonder-goal against Bolton, Neymar tipped Coutinho to become the 'star player in England', and claimed that he has what it takes to replace Luis Suarez at Anfield. He enthused:

“Since Luis joined us, Liverpool have not had that one player they can look to for that special moment. Couto can be that player for them. He is a very special player.”

That's hight praise indeed, and given £20m-rated Coutinho's current form, it's probably deserved. However, there's one Liverpool player who'll probably be disappointed by Neymar's comments, and that's Raheem Sterling.

Neymar has indirectly (and unintentionally) dissed Sterling here as he's completely ignored the youngster's impact this season. He clearly claims that in the absence of Suarez, Coutinho is the only player capable of creating 'special' moments for Liverpool, but that is patently untrue.

Sterling is (arguably) having a bigger impact than Coutinho this season, and he's definitely stepped-up to partly fill the Suarez void. Coutinho has found his form in the last month or so, but when Liverpool really needed it in the first half of the season, he contributed very little.

Neymar's biased insularity is arguably a little ignorant, too, as it's blatantly obvious that Sterling is Liverpool's main talisman this season. I'm sure Neymar would feel a little slighted if Steven Gerrard came out and said something along the lines of 'Messi is the only Barca player capable of creating special moments', a contention that is totally untrue.

Indirect-dissing aside, I'm not going to jump on the Coutinho bandwagon just yet; the Brazilian is one of my favourite LFC players, but a few weeks of good form doesn't make a season. He needs to produce specific, measurable results (i.e. goals/assists) consistently, which is something he's struggled to do over the last 18 months.

On a related note: I find it interesting that the official LFC website has left out Neymar's quote about how Coutinho is the only LFC player to create 'special' moments since Suarez left.

Clearly, whoever added the interview to the site censored that section to protect the fragile egos of LFC's players...

Author:


39 comments:

  1. I don't really care for neymars opinion... He probably hasn't even seen 5 lfc matches this season so his comments should just be ignored. I also doubt that sterling or any other player in the squad will feel dissed by neymar

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  2. Probably ignored Sterling as he will be a Real Madrid player next season. Do not believe the spin FSG are dishing out in the press. Sterling's contract delay has nothing to do with his agent.

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  3. Stickhwiththeprogramme4:53 pm, February 06, 2015

    Sterling's so overrated anyway so what's the problem?

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  4. Are you sure you don't mean 'Stirling'?

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  5. Liverpool are playing with a lot of movement now which suits Coutinhos game, the way we were playing earlier in the season did not suit him at all, the lad is pure class and i can only see him getting better once we have a fully fit Sturridge.

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  6. They are both Brazilian. That's all there is to it. As DerBaumMann said, Neymar hasn't watched many if any Liverpool games so he's simply promoting a fellow countryman.

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  7. Who has ever valued Coutinho as a "£20m LFC-star" ? Just wondering where the valuation came from. Judging by the headline I assumed I was going to read about Henderson!


    Clearly Neymar doesn't watch Liverpool games. He must have just seen his good friend (they've know eachother for over 6 years) Coutinho's goal and decided to give him a huge vote of confidence. Simple as that really...

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  8. That's exactly who he means.

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  9. Can looked like he may be able to produce some magic too.

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  10. Can, Lazar, Sterling, Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana and obviously Danny boy.. Everything is clicking. It is time to kick on.

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  11. Absolutely. While the match of the day crew were creaming over Sterling's excellent finish they neglected to mention Can's brilliant through ball. If Wilshere or any young English player made that pass we'd never hear the end of it. I think we've found our Gerrard replacement.

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  12. With the greatest respect, you are aware of what a hyperlink is, right? If you click the £20m figure itself, which is clearly a hyperlink, and you'll see where the valuation comes from.

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  13. You're right he's probably not watched liverpool play this season. But if sterling whether he is important or not has that kind of ego (as per the article) then we have another Cristiano Ronaldo esque egoistic footballer and we would prefer do without him. Plus liverpool have enough talent to cover for that role

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  14. That's one pointless article ...

    As for the remarks of Neymar - a footballer spoke some kind words about one of his friends (SHOCKER), nothing more nothing less.

    Some people just want to see things, where there are none ...

    I don't understand the reason/benefit for being and act as such an individual ... maybe it all comes down to an inferiortiy complex ... no offence, Jamie lad.

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  15. My bad. Ah..right...The Express...of course. ;)

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  16. I don't really care for neymar's hair.

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  17. Jamie very interesting quotes from Gerrard today, telling the board in no uncertain terms to pull their finger out and sort out sterlings and hendersons contracts. Fair play to him, its shocking that LFC are letting players go in to the final year of their contact. Even Suso should have been signed or sold if he refused. Instead we paid him for 2 years then let him go for free, absolute joke.

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  18. 'and I know there is no smoke without fire.'?

    He isn't coming back to be a manger here, me thinks...

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  19. tell me about it, he didn't hold back did he.
    I dont want to blame Arye but who is in charge cause its a jokee

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  20. Would like to know..
    By the way I think he is trying to blame FSG for his departure...

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  21. Michaelangelo's David comes to mind- when he breathes he adds much needed ozone to our atmosphere and after training I'm told he works on cures for our major diseases

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  22. yes man, i agree. I love Gerrard but like ferguson I dont think its a bad idea to leave when he is still good. I would hate to see him fade away on the bench. Leave us with only good memorys

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  23. Ooops, you don't agree... I would keep him till he dies..

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  24. He just said what we're all thinking. There's a time to nitpick over deals but with certain players, you just get the deal done

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  25. Hope so, but the tone is not too friendly me thinks...

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  26. Maldini.. No Raul. But jebi ga...

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  27. You do realize Neymar and Countinho are good friends since they were teenager's right? This is more or less a friend supporting a friend. I'm sure if asked a direct question about Sterling, Neymar would give similar praise though. This isn't anything at all and pretty sure no player on lfc cares at all.

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  28. You do realize they offered suso a new contract but he refused cause lfc wouldn't include a playing time guarantee. Teams wouldn't even take him on loan this season yet alone pay us for a player that seemed pretty flat, lazy and useless for the majority of the last 2 seasons.

    I'm so tired of gearing how this guy is destined for greatness, he has a poor attitude and you can see it when he plays. Things don't go his way early he becomes non existent except for whining and crying at refs and teammates.

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  29. Agree entirely about Neymar But that is no excuse for censoring his comments. I really do not agree with censorship to protect fragile egos......:-)

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  30. I blame Glen Johnson

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  31. I think, Neymer hasn't seen LFC play this season; may be the match against MU or MC or Chelsea; but to watch the wrong side. He mentioned PC, for being a Brazilian player, I doubt if it's for his great goal or form. PC is a Brazilian regular now as well.


    Anyway, his comment gives me some idea regarding the reputation of English players outside UK. I doubt, if Neymer actually knows Sterling well. Don't think, mainland Europe players/clubs bothers much about English players apart from their salary & fee.

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  32. Any chance of you not telling us YET AGAIN how you think Sterling is overrated? And that Sakho is Bobby Moore, Franco Baresi and Paulo Maldini all rolled into one?
    It's getting old.
    You have a superfluous h in your name by the way

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  33. Suso refused to sign his contract, said it wasn't enough money and didn't impress him in a sporting sense ie didn't guarantee he would play...

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  34. Furthermore, it was never Suarez who needed replacement. We just never managed to find adequate cover for Sturridge.

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  35. 'fragile egos of LFC's players', gee you are unnecessarily harsh sometimes. Just because they're famous and earning a lot of money, it doesn't mean they deserve such unsubstantiated claims like that.

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  36. Did u think sterling is that good?

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  37. Superfluous is a good word, well done

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