Aston Villa exhibits ambition by signing Philippe Coutinho, however for what precisely?

It will not be potential to really feel sorry for somebody who acquired to rake in tens of tens of millions of {dollars} to stay in Barcelona (with a short sojourn to Munich) and never should do a lot. And definitely Liverpool supporters received’t have any sympathy for Philippe Coutinho given the way in which he exited Anfield for the Nou Camp in 2018.

However Coutinho turning into maybe the prime image of Barcelona’s mismanagement, largesse, and silliness isn’t actually Coutinho’s fault. At the least not completely. It wasn’t Coutinho’s fault that Barca had been so determined to spend the cash that they’d gotten from PSG for Neymar. It wasn’t Coutinho’s fault that Ousmane Dembélé, the opposite splurge from the Neymar bounty, had already confirmed to be perma-crocked by the point Coutinho even confirmed up. And it wasn’t Coutinho’s fault that he took what was a promotion, and it was again then, to play for a crew that already had a ball-dominant participant that made his expertise redundant. In reality, they’d THE ball dominant participant in Lionel Messi. Think about signing Russell Westbrook, in his prime, to be an off-the-ball screener and shooter. It was about as dangerous of a match as potential.

It’s getting fairly small within the rearview now, but it surely was solely 4 years in the past that Coutinho was one of many Premier League’s most fun midfielders. However Liverpool had been geared for him, as he spent his greatest season enjoying in a ahead line with Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino blissful to play off of him. And a half-season enjoying behind these two and Mo Salah, all making runs for him to string passes to or create area for his often unconscionable shot choice. Liverpool additionally both surrounded or backed up Coutinho with an industrious midfield that might let him improvise and float whereas masking for him.

It didn’t assist Coutinho’s rep that, when he left Liverpool, they used the money to signal Virgil van Dijk instantly, watched him develop into perhaps the very best defender on this planet, after which mosey to consecutive Champions League finals and a Premier League title. Nor did it assist that Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool braintrust by no means actually felt the necessity to exchange Coutinho, shunting inventive accountability to their fullbacks and leaving the midfield to be extra energetic than inspirational.

Maybe Barcelona thought merely placing Coutinho into the identical lineup with Luis Suárez once more would simply recreate the magic they’d in England at Liverpool. However they didn’t have the identical spots on the sector open. When at Liverpool, Coutinho performed on the head of a midfield diamond behind Suárez and Daniel Sturridge. That’s not the formation Barca used. Ivan Rakitić was already the place Coutinho could be in midfield, and on the left of the entrance three, one spends numerous time watching Messi do his factor. Working into area isn’t Coutinho’s recreation.

Even within the ensuing years, Coutinho’s by no means been a excessive vitality employee, which suggests the opposite two midfielders should cowl some floor. As Sergio Busquets’s odometer had a number of hundred thousand miles on it already, that wasn’t one thing Barca might present both.

All of it has made Coutinho a determine of unhappiness for the previous 4 seasons. He had a entrance row seat to their Champions League collapses in opposition to Roma and Liverpool. He was loaned out to Munich, which allowed him to be on the best aspect of one other paddling of Barca, and he scored twice for Munich in that 8-2 win, however couldn’t stick in Munich. The remainder of the time he’s been a bit-part participant, because the reminiscences of him profitable video games on his personal fade increasingly.

Nonetheless, Coutinho is (one way or the other) solely 29, and that participant needs to be in there someplace. And there could also be no extra excellent setting to get it out of him than enjoying for his former captain in Steven Gerrard and for a crew that was constructed round a ball-dominant aptitude participant who lived on the left aspect of the assault. That’s what Coutinho will discover at Aston Villa.

Villa spent the previous two seasons operating by way of Jack Grealish, whose skill-set matches up fairly nicely with Coutinho’s. And there’s quite a lot of methods Gerrard might deploy him. On the left with Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins. Or behind them in the identical midfield diamond that Gerrard performed in with Coutinho. In John McGinn and Douglas Luiz or Jacob Ramsey, they’ve the onerous working gamers to cowl.

Coutinho is actually the most important title to reach at Villa in a while, but it surely’s murky as to what Villa hope to realize. They’re 9 factors out of the European spots. They’re 11 factors away from relegation. They’ve solely introduced Coutinho in on mortgage for the remainder of the season, and it’s onerous to fathom that even when issues go nicely as could be they’re going to stump up a switch payment and pay Coutinho’s wages to maintain him completely (rumored to be round $22 million a 12 months) until Coutinho is prepared to take a large pay lower.

Maybe it’s only a assertion of intent from each. Villa to show to different gamers and brokers that they’ve critical goals within the subsequent few years below Gerrard. Coutinho to indicate that he can nonetheless be that participant when the setting is true. Maybe they’ll do one another a favor and assist one another’s future, even when they’ll be away from one another.

It’s a boom-or-bust sort of deal, however Villa don’t have a lot to lose. Coutinho does although, which most likely has Gerrard and Villa relying on him enjoying prefer it.