Philippe Coutinho

A Solid Spine Would Do Liverpool Just Fine!

I’ve watched a lot of football over the best part of nearly 20 years and I’ve seen some great sides, some played beautiful expansive football, whilst others adopted a more defensive approach where they’d be ruthless on the counter attack. I’ve witnessed so many great managers and tacticians orchestrate various formations such as 4-5-1,...

Are Liverpool still too reliant on Daniel Sturridge?

Eight new signings, near £90 million spent and it took a mere 4 games before it all started, yet again. "When Daniel Sturridge returns we'll start smashing teams." "We're just lacking Sturridge now, then we'll be putting teams away." Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Scrolling through Twitter I felt like I'd seen all of this before. I...

Would Winning Alone Suffice?

If one reads the title of this piece, it would not be too far fetched to assume that readers might think they have entered an Arsenal/Chelsea fans blog site by accident, as this is a topic which has been a bug bear for Arsenal fans during their trophy drought ridden years. The terms 'winning...

Alberto and Markovic, do Liverpool waste talent?

Why have a Ferrari, a Porsche and a Lamborghini if you're just going to lock them away, rarely use them yet continuously talk about having them. "Yeah, look at the videos of how quick they can go. Imagine how good it'll be when I finally use them, right?!" Is this scenario not what happens when Liverpool...

A GAME OF THRONES – Who will sit beside the Anfield Throne?

With Brendan Rodgers backed by FSG and secure as Liverpool Manager who is going to accompany him and who will wave goodbye. As we know there has already been two cut throat departures of backroom staff, Colin Pascoe and Mike Marsh fell victim to last season’s shortcomings. Brendan’s court is going to be a...

Philippe Coutinho (Part 2): Playing Out of the Box

In the first part of this series which tactically analyses Philippe Coutinho in various formations, systems, and structures, we examined the Brazilian magician in the 2013/14 diamond midfield within a 4-4-2. Check it out here. However, for the second part, I decided to look at the 3-4-2-1 formation in which Liverpool utilised in during...

Finding Positives for Liverpool From The 2014/15 Season

2014/15 was an absolute stinker for Liverpool FC, no two ways about it. I went through a full range of emotions with Brendan Rodgers; in October I had hope he could turn it around, in November and December I had sympathy that this once strutting peacock was now a broken shell of a man...

Pay for Memphis Depay | An Analytical Look

In recent days and weeks, Liverpool have been linked with the purchase of Memphis Depay from PSV Eindhoven. There have been news pieces on how Liverpool have been monitoring Depay for almost a year and have reinforced their monitoring in recent weeks, the key being 'Monitoring'. So what could Depay bring to Liverpool and...

Philippe Coutinho: A shining light in a frustrating season

Philippe Coutinho was recently named in the PFA team of the year; but in expected style, not all agreed. It was questioned by some as to whether he deserved to make the line-up, but why shouldn't he? In what has been such a frustrating and disappointing season for Liverpool, the Reds didn't make that stepping...

Liverpool at a Crossroads

Defeats are always hard to stomach, some more than others. Sometimes though, it’s not just about the defeats or the manner of them; it’s an accumulation of things that change the landscape. For over 50 years, trophies have been the currency that Liverpool Football Club has dealt in and the sad fact is that 10...