Fresh Football Fresh quotes, opinion and reaction to the beautiful game.
Liverpool moved to the top of the Premier League with an emphatic 6-1 win over Watford on Sunday afternoon.
Jurgen Klopp’s men kept up their stunning form of late and they had Philippe Coutinho to thank for much of their performance. The Brazilian has been thriving on the left hand side of a dynamic and energetic front three for Klopp - and it is leading to some fantastic results for the Merseyside club.
Here’s some stats from Coutinho’s near-flawless performance. He had 83 touches and made 5 key passes, his passing was fairly reliable with a 82.4% success rate. He attempted 6 crosses and was accurate with 3 and he made 54 passes in total. Dribbling is also an area of Coutinho’s game that is very strong, he completed 3 of these in the game. His most telling contributions of the game were of course his goal and assist. As we’ve seen with lots of individuals performances under Klopp - it is not about perfection with pass completion etc. but a lot about intensity and teamwork and these are areas of Coutinho’s game that have improved a lot under Klopp.
Aged just 24, Coutinho is making great progress at Liverpool and looks better than ever so far this season.
This performance is not a one off for the player, he has been in great form this season and is thriving under the guidance of Klopp. This season he has racked up 5 goals and 5 assists in 11 Premier League appearances this season - it’s a great start to the campaign and if he can keep it up he may be considered the best midfielder in the Premier League, some believe he is already just that…
Here’s some of the best reaction to Coutinho’s performance on Twitter.
Anyone playing better than Coutinho in @premierleague 🤔
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) November 6, 2016
Coutinho is so important to what we are doing going forward. Thats now 3 Premier league Man of the matches in a row❤👌
— TheCoutinhoRole™ (@TheCoutinhoRole) November 6, 2016
I repeat myself coutinho is the best midfielder in EPL…🔥🔥🔥🔥
— Gboyegs (@oyeksj) November 6, 2016
Mane, Firmino and Coutinho undoubtedly becoming one of the best trio's in football right now.
— Jœ (@ffsAllen) November 6, 2016
Coutinho's the best player in the league
— Ahmed Mshelia (@a_mshelia) November 6, 2016
I do think Hazard is the best in the league, but Coutinho is right up there giving all the big names a run for their money.
— Sam (@lallanabanana) November 6, 2016
Coutinho is the best midfielder in the prem atm.
— Abdi Osman (@AbdiOsmann) November 6, 2016
Coutinho is Liverpool’s playmaker and most influential attacking player. Whether he is the actual best midfielder in the league or not remains up for debate - there’s a lot of top quality midfielders. What matters is about team performance for Klopp, not individuals. So long as Coutinho can continue to contribute for the team then Liverpool have every chance of winning the title this season. If he can deliver consistent performances like that and make the difference in the title race then nobody will need to speculate - he can be crowned the best in the league.
