The disillusionment of Barcelona with Philippe Coutinho was a sad process. The Brazilian football player had everything to stall at the Camp Nou. His fine football seemed perfect to partner with Messi. It was not Neymar, but his simple, academicist game should also have an impact. Something went wrong, when the principle suggested exactly the opposite. After an initial crush with a decisive goal in Valencia to put Barça in the Cup final, Coutinho closed a brilliant first half year at Barça with ten goals and six assists in 22 games. The 2018-19 season was to be that of the explosion.
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It is very difficult to explain that a player who marks 1-0 in the Classic of October 2019 (5-1 against Madrid) is already discussed. Much discussed. But it happened. A riot critic with Coutinho was installed in the media and on the Camp Nou rostrum. While players like Arthur were celebrated for their supposed resemblance to Xavi; and others like Dembélé protected despite their lack of reliability, Coutinho was given the label of irrelevant in a process that has reminded us of this year with Griezmann and that usually occurs with players who look more for collective interests than for their brilliance.
But that stalled and ended up affecting the player’s spirits, which collapsed. Instead of establishing himself as a key footballer at Barça, he fell. Coutinho played a lot last season (54 games, but his numbers were weak (11 goals and five assists), his influence decreased and everything exploded in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. Then, the Brazilian invented himself a great goal from the house against United (3-0). In an outburst inappropriate for him, tired of what he considered an unfair criticism, he put his hands to his ears in a defiant gesture that the stands of the Camp Nou took very bad.
Although the player sent a strange message to explain later (“I have never disrespected anyone in my life, neither inside nor outside of football”), something had definitely broken. So much so that, the same day 3-0 at Liverpool, what should have been a pressure cooker was a stadium with whistles every time Coutinho touched the ball. Valverde ended up trading him for Semedo in the 60th minute, although Messi did not forget the detail. When he made it 2-0 in the 75th minute, he made an unequivocal gesture to the fans to stop whistling the Brazilian. Messi and Luis Suárez, by the way, strengthened ties and protected the Brazilian during his stay in Barcelona. Their complicity did not reach the one they had with Neymar, but they were always in favor of his continuity at Barça.
But Coutinho’s story was, at least partially, finished, much more after the goal that Alisson denied him at Anfield. The club knew that it could not continue and, despite not finding a buyer, it sent it in extremis at Bayern to get rid of it.
Now that the option of Coutinho returning to Barça next season is being talked about nonstop; and of the interest of Quique Setién in seeing him in situ because he is a player of his liking, a paradoxical option may be given. If, as the most realistic scenario that Barça manages, the Camp Nou does not reopen to the public until 2021, Coutinho would have the opportunity to reconcile with the fans only with football, and not influenced by the environment that his return generated. Behind closed doors.
That would give Coutinho peace of mind. A few words from Munich confirm that mentally weak player label. Giovane Elber, Bayern legend, does them: “I think (Coutinho) is a person who gets overwhelmed very easily when things are not going so well. He is not a person who thinks: “I am Coutinho and I am going to fix this.” There are players who think voy I will embroider it in this game ’and others who move away. He lacks a certain aggressiveness and it is a shame because he is a great player ”.
Any footballer wants to play with the public. But Coutinho could make it easier for him to rehabilitate himself. A good start to the season behind closed doors, and appropriate declarations, could end up creating an atmosphere of reconciliation when football returned to normal. It is a radically optimistic prism. Surely necessary in these times. Reality, however, says different things. First, that Barça will place Coutinho in the Premier if the opportunity arises.
And then, if there is no other choice but to stay, turning the situation between the Brazilian and the partner is also extremely complicated. Behind closed doors, paradoxically, it may be easier. And a push from Messi, of course, that does not hurt anyone.
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