Philippe Coutinho

[Living Legend Colm G]

Thanks for this reminder ??

Only good thing about that terrible day was that I got to interview Ledley.

 

[Basil Brush]

This is rewriting history a bit. We finished above Liverpool in 5 of the 6 seasons he was at the club. He isn’t some crazy talent we couldn’t have previously dreamed of.

He is no Dybala...

 

[spursfan77]

I went to bed and it was all positive, wake up and it’s all doom and gloom again.

The question is, how many times will that cycle progress before his destination is confirmed???

 

[Carson35]

Cabby, we refused to pay 15m, or whatever it was. He didn’t turn us down! We refused the terms RM were offering!

Also, there was no option to buy...

 

[Finchyid]

I went to bed and it was all positive, wake up and it’s all doom and gloom again.

The question is, how many times will that cycle progress before his destination is confirmed???

well hes off to arsenal now.....until twitter wakes up....then he will be off to Liverpool

 

[spursfan77]

well hes off to arsenal now.....until twitter wakes up....then he will be off to Liverpool

And then back to us!

If Poch has spoken sweet nothings in his ear then we’ve the upper hand. Plus he used to play for him so that should swing it towards us. Unless of course he doesn’t fancy the hard training he knows he’d get under Poch and wants the easy life.

 

[Kiedis]

Dunno, we spent the summer being linked to players that could play as an 8 in Ceballos, Lo Celso and Fernandes.

A day left of the window, and we're suddenly scrambling for a player that Barcelona intended to have replace Iniesta, but realised after a few games that he actually couldn't play as a central midfielder and shunted him wide again. This doesn't reek of good planning, more like desperate scrambling late in the window.

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

Not long left to find out. But! Use some common sense please. He WANTS CL football! And?

Golden eggs or mangled dumplings. Never has a pair of gonads stood to win or lose so much

 

[RobjDerby]

I think a lot of info and reports are coming through out of order.... fingers crossed!!

 

[Montalbano]

Dunno, we spent the summer being linked to players that could play as an 8 in Ceballos, Lo Celso and Fernandes.

A day left of the window, and we're suddenly scrambling for a player that Barcelona intended to have replace Iniesta, but realised after a few games that he actually couldn't play as a central midfielder and shunted him wide again. This doesn't reek of good planning, more like desperate scrambling late in the window.

Sometimes opportunities appear that you can't ignore, even if it means a change of plans. I think we were (and still may be) primarily targeting hybrid #8/#10 playmakers like GLC and Ceballos because Poch fancied switching to the 4-4-2 diamond or some formation variation with a three man midfield (as well as keeping Eriksen, who I think was heading back to his preferred #10 role). Realistically, despite his inferior physicality and defensive abilities, we could try Coutinho in a midfield 3 similar to his role at Liverpool and what we did this season with Eriksen, but I think that if the opportunity presents itself where we could obtain two genuine world class players like Dybala and Coutinho, Poch would be happy to utilize another formation that better accommodates them like our 4-2-3-1 where we could potentially line up:

Kane

Coutinho Dybala Son
(Lamela) (Dele) (Lucas)

Winks Ndombele
(Dier) (Sissoko)

and no players are out of place.

 

[Matrix]

This is rewriting history a bit. We finished above Liverpool in 5 of the 6 seasons he was at the club. He isn’t some crazy talent we couldn’t have previously dreamed of.

You have totally misinterpreted what I meant. Maybe I didn’t put myself across to well.
I consider that game as the lowest point in the last 5/6 years where thinking of going for a player in the 100m bracket would have been ridiculous. Maybe cause I mentioned Liverpool you got the wrong end of the stick.
It was meant to make the point that we have come a mighty long way.

 

[Kiedis]

Sometimes opportunities appear that you can't ignore, even if it means a change of plans. I think we were (and still may be) primarily targeting hybrid #8/#10 playmakers like GLC and Ceballos because Poch fancied switching to the 4-4-2 diamond or some formation variation with a three man midfield (as well as keeping Eriksen, who I think was heading back to his preferred #10 role). Realistically, despite his inferior physicality and defensive abilities, we could try Coutinho in a midfield 3 similar to his role at Liverpool and what we did this season with Eriksen, but I think that if the opportunity presents itself where we could obtain two genuine world class players like Dybala and Coutinho, Poch would be happy to utilize another formation that better accommodates them like our 4-2-3-1 where we could potentially line up:

Kane

Coutinho Dybala Son
(Lamela) (Dele) (Lucas)

Winks Ndombele
(Dier) (Sissoko)

and no players are out of place.

But even a 4-2-3-1 in this day and age does require a 10 to be able to do "midfield stuff". That doesn't seem like a role Dybala has ever played, at least not in a way Poch generally demands his players to play. If Eriksen leaves, then I guess Alli is probably the most fitting 8/10 hybrid, at least in terms of defensive output. But I wasn't meaning to bore anyone with this tactics stuff, I just thought it was an odd and sudden shifting of targets two days before the window closes.

 

[Yiddo100]

Aren’t arsenal looking at rugani the cb on loan, if so am I right in think you can only have two loans per season? Which would be him and ceballos

 

[Spurger King]

A talented player, but in all honesty I always thought he was just a flashier version of Siggurdsson. Contributing virtually nothing game after game, then smashing in a 30 yard scorcher. Then again, I didn’t watch him play very often, and that’s very much a MOTD opinion.

 

[Montalbano]

But even a 4-2-3-1 in this day and age does require a 10 to be able to do "midfield stuff". That doesn't seem like a role Dybala has ever played, at least not in a way Poch generally demands his players to play. If Eriksen leaves, then I guess Alli is probably the most fitting 8/10 hybrid, at least in terms of defensive output. But I wasn't meaning to bore anyone with this tactics stuff, I just thought it was an odd and sudden shifting of targets two days before the window closes.

Up until this season, Dybala has almost always played behind a striker as basically a "secondary striker". I didn't mean that Dybala had to play as a pure #10, instead I meant for him to compete for the central attacking midfield Dele role that we've used in our 4-2-3-1 previously. Coutinho would like take that free floating playmaker role that Eriksen had and Son would retain his role. It's almost exactly like our old setup with new faces (and greater depth)

And Dybala is certainly as capable of midfield stuff as Dele, he can send the same clever forward balls, dinks, etc. (they're play styles are similar IMO, Dele just has not had the opportunity to play as a pure striker like Dybala)

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

Regarding the disparity in reported loan fees (£20m vs £11m). I wonder if the £20m is with Barca paying the wages, which might be preferable for us as it would keep labe up there as top earner at the club and maintain some sort of wage structure.

 

[Tucker]

A talented player, but in all honesty I always thought he was just a flashier version of Siggurdsson. Contributing virtually nothing game after game, then smashing in a 30 yard scorcher. Then again, I didn’t watch him play very often, and that’s very much a MOTD opinion.

Yeah I used to have that opinion of him too, but like you say, probably a MOTD based opinion, shone through a prism of envy and rivalry.

He’s got two great feet, an eye for a pass, can take on and beat his man, as well as the obvious thunderbolt shots. He’d be great for us.

 

[Kiedis]

And Dybala is certainly as capable of midfield stuff as Dele, he can send the same clever forward balls, dinks, etc. (they're play styles are similar IMO, Dele just has not had the opportunity to play as a pure striker like Dybala)

I was more thinking about the defensive side of the game.

 

[For the love of Spurs]

A talented player, but in all honesty I always thought he was just a flashier version of Siggurdsson. Contributing virtually nothing game after game, then smashing in a 30 yard scorcher. Then again, I didn’t watch him play very often, and that’s very much a MOTD opinion.

He is a very good player, like a more explosive dynamic version of Eriksen but like Eriksen with the ability to go missing sometimes.

 

[sausage]

Aren’t arsenal looking at rugani the cb on loan, if so am I right in think you can only have two loans per season? Which would be him and ceballos

Correct:

Premier League clubs may not register more than two players on loan at any one time.
- The maximum number of loans registrable in the same season is four, and, under no circumstances, shall more than one be from the same club at any one time.
- Premier League clubs cannot loan to another Premier League club a player they have acquired in the same transfer window.
- A Premier League club may loan not more than one of its goalkeepers to another Premier League club.