Philippe Coutinho has stood out and impressed in all of his games for Barcelona so far, and this last weekend he proved once again along with Ousmane Dembele to be a worthy partner for Lionel Messi.
Coutinho received rave reviews while playing for Liverpool in the English Premier League, but it’s fair to say that he was still wildly underrated on a global scale. One could argue that Brazil really began to see a resurgence under its coach Tite when Coutinho began starting for the Seleção. This last thing was the real indicator of just how good Coutinho was. Anyone who can stand out for Brazil when Neymar is also playing is really a special player.
The individual skill and dribbling of Philippe Coutinho stood out when he was just a teenager with Inter Milan, and now with Barcelona, it’s clear that Coutinho was exactly the caliber and type of attacking player that Barcelona needed. Barcelona needed another player like Andrés Iniesta, and don’t believe any of the rumors that Iniesta is really close to retiring at only 33 years old. El Ilusionista will be playing at a magical and world-class level for at least two more seasons.
With Barcelona, Coutinho has shown that he not only has the individual skill for a club like Barcelona, but he also has the passing ability to fit in instantly with Barcelona. Coutinho excels at quick one-to-two touch passing, long distance passing, and incisive passes to open up the defense and create goals. The Brazilian also knows how to score.
Even before the Brazilian was sold to Barcelona, Coutinho was one of the top five players in the world, but that fifth place spot was a tie between Coutinho, Isco, and Paulo Dybala. Now, Coutinho has to be considered by himself in that fifth place spot below Lionel Messi, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kylian Mbappé. You could argue that Coutinho is better than Mbappé because of the combination of the Brazilian’s passing, dribbling, scoring, and free kick ability, but Mbappé’s combination of skill and speed are even more impressive than Coutinho’s. Known mostly for his speed, Mbappé has already shown that he can leave defenders for dead with inventive and magical trickery. The French winger and forward also scores with both feet and provides plenty of assists.
Ray Hudson provided the commentary for beIN Sports for the Barcelona-Athletic match, and Hudson noted how he had underrated Coutinho’s ability to turn away from defenders and navigate tight spaces. The Brazilian’s ability to elude defenders is probably his best quality, and if Neymar is still injured when the 2018 World Cup arrives, then Brazil will need Coutinho even more.