With Coutinho’s Liverpool performances and his £140m move from Anfield to Camp Nou, one would easily expect his move to Barcelona to be eventful. This however has not been the case as we have seen a rather shambolic performance from the Brazilian leading to his move away from the Nou Camp.

The move itself wasn’t without controversies as it involved a rather long saga. The Brazilian refused to train with Liverpool citing a back injury, and also provided part of the transfer fee. The events led to a tug-of-war between both outfits with Liverpool not willingly to give up their biggest star. No wonder the high transfer fee (the second highest in Barcelona’s history and the highest in British history).
Coutinho left with the mind-set of winning the Champions League at the Nou Camp; something which seemed really possible. However, the decision has come to hunt him as he saw his former side defeat Barcelona to lift the trophy.

Consequently, we take a look at the possible reasons for his below par performance for the Blaugrana.

The Left Wing Role
For most football faithful’s the main reason for his failure is the position where he played often at Camp Nou. Recall that the past three seasons haven’t gone too well for Barcelona in terms of depatrures; including that of big names like Iniesta and Neymar. So, the coming of Coutinho seemed like the perfect move to fill the Iniesta’s position.

However, the Barcelona Coach, Valverde opted to play him on the left wing, to fill in for Neymar who left to PSG. Unfortunately, Coutinho fails to possess the speed of a winger, which limits his play on the wings. Also, he has often played in the centre of the park in Liverpool and the change in his position helped to unsettle him.

We however saw the Coutinho we know when he played the midfield position for Brazil at was instrumental to their Copa America success.

The Real Barcelona’s Number 10:. The presence of a player who is wildly considered to be the Greatest to ever play football hasn’t done the Brazilian much good. The effectiveness and success of Barcelona’s midfielders and attackers over the last decades have always come with their ability to link up with the Argentine,.........


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