Coutinho: The view from Brazil
Brazilian Liverpool fan Diego Perez gives us the lowdown on what we can expect from the Reds' new No.10 over the coming years after his first goal for the club against Swansea on Sunday.
It's fair to say our new Brazilian boy arrived at Anfield and brought some questions with him.
Much of our budget this season has gone towards strengthening the front lines. Even Joe Allen, our most defensive player acquired this term, isn't exactly a proper holding midfielder like Lucas Leiva is.
Of course, the investment in attack was much needed - for how many seasons in a row have we heard complaints about how few wingers, creative strikers or attacking midfielders we have?
With Conor Coady still young and perhaps not quite ready to step up to the plate on a regular basis if Lucas got injured again, and Steven Gerrard working much better up front like Jordan Henderson and Allen, the absence of another defensive midfielder, as has already happened this season and last, would be heavily felt.
But our squad's needs are just starting to be fulfilled and we needed competition up front, too.
Raheem Sterling is an excellent prospect, but the absence of another creative player to challenge him was already being felt and I think that's why Brendan Rodgers decided to get Philippe Coutinho.
To improve your squad, you get players with more quality than the ones that you already have. If you can't pay for a Gareth Bale, you pay for what you can to improve your squad.
This position in the team was open with Sterling being a more natural winger than Suso, but both of them lack the experience that Coutinho already has after his loans in Brazil and Spain.
I've spoken with a few Inter Milan fans in Brazil and checked the Italian reaction online to Coutinho's move to Liverpool. Even the Inter manager said that it wasn't exactly great to see him go, but the need for resources to replace Wesley Sneijder drove them to the decision.
The overall feeling from the supporters I had the opportunity to talk to was that much was expected of him and they didn't want him to go, either.
He arrived there at just 18 years old, went back on loan to Vasco da Gama and after that Espanyol, where he didn't have a bad season for a 19-year-old in a team that doesn't exactly play the type of football that can get the best out of him.
Naturally, some players will play better in certain circumstances and styles - and to me, that's what Rodgers will provide for Coutinho at Liverpool.
For those who haven't seen much of Espanyol (and I was one of them until I had to do the research to write this piece), last season they had problems retaining the ball, played quite deep and were focused on counter-attacks.
Coutinho was mainly on the left part of the front four in a 4-2-3-1 formation. That's where he usually played in Brazil too before he left, and so it was no surprise to see him in the same spot against Swansea on Sunday.
But don't get me wrong, Coutinho is probably now one of our most versatile players. He can play right behind the main striker as a central forward, on the left or right of a 4-2-3-1 or as an out-and-out winger - and he could probably even help out closer to the midfield if needed.
On Sunday he started shyly and missed a good opportunity in the first half - but what we can't forget is that he is still a 20-year-old boy and confidence will play as much a part as his ability.
A nice pass to Jose Enrique using his heel that brought him some applause gave him a lift and suddenly he was able to find spaces on the wings with his quick feet, play through balls down the middle of the pitch - as we saw him do for Daniel Sturridge in the first half - and cut inside and score when the second half began.
'So Coutinho is mainly a winger, right?'
It depends on your concept of a 'winger'. If your traditional winger is, for example, Bale then no, he's not that type of player. I'd say that he is more a Juan Mata type than Bale for lots of reasons.
Bale can play the role of the 'classic winger', running his lungs out to the byline leaving players behind and, of course, cutting inside to find a spot to shoot at goal.
However, Coutinho, like Mata and probably Eden Hazard, is more like a winger in the modern-day game - a player that will ghost into the middle of the pitch instead of being on the wings, providing width and waiting for the ball.
He will hold onto it and emerge through a crowd of players around him and make smart passes and through balls. In other words, maybe 'playmaker' is a better term to refer to Coutinho.
If you got a little lost with the last paragraph, check out the graphic below.
This heatmap traces the steps of the players on the field, meaning that the hotter the colour, the more a player touched the ball in that place.
From this, it's easy to see how Coutinho spent a good part of his game in front of the box and very little close to the byline.
If you compare him to Stewart Downing, you can see the difference easily. Downing was much more on the byline and spent a longer time closer to the side of the pitch to provide width for the team. Similarities can be found as well, but the differences are even more recognisable on the graphic below.
If you divide the time where Coutinho played when in the attacking part of the field, he spent just 12.5 per cent of his time acting as a 'winger', trying to break from the side to deliver a cross or getting inside the defence with a dribble to create chaos.
He spent 10.42 per cent of his time inside the box or holding his flank, and 31.25 per cent of his time trying to retrieve the ball or building the play closer to the midfield.
If you check Downing above, 24 per cent of his time was on the touchline (counting both sides) and one per cent more inside the box - but not really close to Coutinho when cutting inside the pitch. The Brazilian spent twice the amount of time in this position.
Also, you can see that Downing has more presence in other parts of the field. I attribute this to the fact that he played for longer than the Brazilian and he's already more used to Rodgers' pressing strategy, which means he was leaving his position more often to try to retrieve more of the ball.
Another thing that improves the 'playmaker' argument for Coutinho in this match is the crosses. A winger is known for it and Downing had three of them whereas Coutinho delivered none.
What else can I say about him? The match against Swansea proved some points about his style of play. Short passes, movement on the edge of the box, some bold pass attempts, seeking to shoot when in front of the goal - and he's not even close to being the finished article.
To sum up, I'm not exactly certain of the precise effect that our new little Brazilian boy will have on the team, of course, as it's impossible to predict - but Sunday was a good start at Anfield for sure.
Finally, just to let fans know, Lucas over here in Brazil is also called 'Lucas the Lion' as lots of supporters like to nickname the players.
I don't know if it's common in England, but Coutinho has already been nicknamed as 'Showtinho' (show means the exact same thing in Portuguese as in English), so that is, in a certain way, what the Brazilian supporters are expecting of him - nothing short of a show, lad!
You can follow the official LFC Twitter account for Brazil at @LFCBrasil>>