Philippe Coutinho running out of time at Barcelona

Philippe Coutinho’s form has dominated the headlines and his recent display against Real Madrid added more fuel to the fire.

The Copa del Rey tie against Real Madrid was supposed to be Philippe Coutinho’s time to shine considering the absence of Lionel Messi. But the Brazilian continued his poor run of form and the doubts in the media and among fans is getting increasingly louder. He was virtually a non-factor in Barcelona’s 1-1 draw in the clasico and was overshadowed by the other Brazilian, Malcom.

When Coutinho was first purchased from Liverpool in a record €160 million deal, it seemed that Barcelona finally found their man and the heir apparent to the departing Andres Iniesta. After all, he was the player the club wanted once Neymar left to PSG. When negotiations with Liverpool went nowhere, the club activated their Plan B in Ousmane Dembélé. When he was brought over in the winter of last season, both he and the club were over the moon and performed well for Barcelona in both the league and cup competitions. But it’s a different story this season.

Coutinho has struggled mightily in the last couple of months showing little of the player he was when he was at Liverpool. Sure he’s popped in with a couple of goals here and there and showed flashes of his old self in Barcelona’ comeback against Sevilla but that’s all they’ve been; flashes.

But what has caused this dip in form?

Perhaps the biggest detriment at the moment is the lack of confidence. Whenever he’s on the pitch it looks like he’s stuck between two thoughts. He doesn’t know whether to take on a defender and go for goal or to pass to a teammate. More often than not, the result is him simply losing the ball and when that happens, his head goes down and his dejectedness is apparent.  With a high defensive line, that usually spells trouble for Barcelona.

One could point at his lack of a true position. He was brought in as the “New Iniesta” but that was always going to too big a hill to climb. He was a versatile player and could also be deployed on the wing. In his first half-season, he was utilized more on the left wing with Iniesta still being there and Dembélé being injured. He had moderate success which is why his struggles so far this season have been perplexing.

The other reason is the rise in form of the aforementioned Ousmane Dembélé. Despite going through some rough times, admittedly self-inflected, the Frenchman has had a very good sophomore season contributing vital goals and being a dangerous man on the counter. So much so that he’s turned himself into a starter ahead of Coutinho. Showing no signs of slowing down, Dembélé has made that spot his own which adds pressure to Coutinho. When he comes on, he seems to be trying to do too much to impress instead of keeping things simple and whatever he wanted to do usually doesn’t come off.

His run of poor form has also garnered speculation that Barcelona may be looking to offload him in the summer. The latest rumor coming off the heels of the Copa del Rey match with Chelsea being the team interested in him if they lose Eden Hazard. Selling low would be unwise from Barcelona’s part and with this being his first full season, it would be premature to give up on him so quickly. His teammates certainly think so.

According to an article by Sport, Coutinho still has the full support and confidence from the locker room. His teammates believe that it’s only a matter of time before he finds the magic that he showed at Liverpool and that everyone needs to have a little bit of patience. They also cite his professionalism and that he has not complained about his recent lack of playing time. All one needs to do is look at Lionel Messi ceding the penalty kick to Coutinho against Sevilla to know how well-liked he is by his teammates.

Patience is something that is difficult to come by in football especially at a club like Barcelona where any slip-up is immediately scrutinized and the demand placed by the fans on players. Especially those who do not come up from La Masia.  With the Champions League coming up as well as the return leg and league game against Real Madrid, Coutinho will get another shot at proving his doubters wrong. After that, we’ll see how much patience the fans and the team have left.