Liverpool’s attack has been the best in the Premier League, alongside Manchester City, with both sides scoring 24 goals in the league this season. Although Liverpool have played the majority of their matches without a traditional number nine, their movement and relentless work rate has allowed them to create lots of chances in every game. There are still going to be matches where they are frustrated by sides that set out to contain them, as happened against Burnley and Manchester United. However, their quality in attack means that they are always likely to score goals.
There have been pundits that have said one of the reasons for Liverpool’s success is that they don’t have a recognised star in attack, but that isn’t strictly true. Philippe Coutinho has been superb during the first ten matches of the season and the Brazilian is beginning to emerge as one of the best players in the league. At the age of 24, Coutinho has stepped up and taken the responsibility of being the main man of the Liverpool attack. He has contributed four goals and four assists, which is an impressive goal involvement per minute ratio of 93.9. It is unlikely that he can maintain that, but it emphasises how good the former Inter Milan player has been over the first ten Premier League matches of the season.
In the past, Coutinho has been accused of being inconsistent and for him to take the next step, it was important that he started to influence matches on a weekly basis. This season, he has averaged 2.5 chances created and 4.1 shots per game, highlighting how he has added consistency to his game. To put these figures in context, I will compare Coutinho with Kevin de Bruyne and Mesut Ozil, the two leading players in his position. The former has averaged 2.67 chances created and 3.22 shots per game, while Ozil has averaged 2.33 chances created and 1.78 shots. This shows that Coutinho is now performing at an elite level and deserves to be talked about in the same way that De Bruyne and Ozil are.
Not only has the Brazilian been contributing in the final third, but he has also been working hard when his side is out of possession. There were doubts about whether he would take to Jurgen Klopp’s style after the German was appointed last year. However, the change in management has allowed Coutinho to become a more complete player. He has been involved in 22 ball recoveries, which is more than both De Bruyne (15) and Ozil (15). Although Coutinho has been running games in the attacking half, Klopp demands that every outfield player presses and contributes defensively. His star player knows that it is required and has added the ability to retrieve the ball into his game.
It has been a joy to watch Coutinho develop in the Premier League and he is now reaching the level that Liverpool fans hoped he would reach. The appointment of Jurgen Klopp has been central to his progress over the last year. The German recognised the ability that Coutinho possesses and is now getting the best from him. His decision to use Roberto Firmino as a false nine means that Liverpool have a fluid front line and this has freed Coutinho. The 24-year-old is getting into more dangerous positions more frequently and that can be seen by his stats above.
Coutinho will have to perform at this level for an entire season before he can be considered an elite player, but he is on track to be one of the leading players in the league. There have been speculation linking him with Barcelona, which shows how his reputation has been enhanced across Europe. He has yet to receive the praise that he deserves in the English media and Liverpool fans will be hoping that doesn’t change as it would be a huge blow to lose him in the next six months. Coutinho is good enough to take Liverpool back to the top of the English game and it is crucial that they keep him at the club.
He is a great player.