Philippe Coutinho at Bayern: The Maestro of München

The addition of Philippe Coutinho to Bayern München on loan from Barcelona was an effort to secure more creativity for Die Roten.

Having lost out on Leroy Sané due to injury and price, Ivan Perisic and Coutinho became the best available recourse. Coutinho’s versatility meant that he could play out wide or centrally, depending on the team’s needs.

In his first start for Bayern against Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League, Coutinho demonstrated his potential. His placement behind Robert Lewandowski put Coutinho in control of Lewy, Perisic and Kingsley Coman and the entire München scoring machine. Coutinho played as the true maestro of München.

With Niko Kovac and Bayern München playing a 4-2-3-1 against Belgrade, Coutinho was able to fulfil the number ten role to perfection. While he didn’t turn up with an assist from the ten position, he fit in well and was a consistent threat with his vision and scoring prowess.

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The pressure Coutinho helped to exert alongside his offensive counterparts. The 34’ header from Ivan Perisic to Kingsley Coman began the scoring, but it was far from the start of the pressure from Bayern München. The 14’ and 21’ strikes from Coutinho demonstrated his volition and ambition offensively, even if they didn’t tally as goals; It was a welcome return to his form at Liverpool.

Coutinho’s form and desire seemed reborn from his spell in Barcelona. He appeared unsure of himself alongside names like Leo Messi, Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic. Despite tremendous skill and ability, his time in Spain was uninspiring, and that was acutely felt by Barcelona as a team.

Meanwhile in his first start at Bayern, the quality of Coutinho was accentuated with a more obviously defined position in the squad; being handed the “keys to the car” so to speak as the starting number ten was surely liberating psychologically. That liberated creativity and expression would be demonstrated over the duration of his time on the pitch.

Philippe Coutinho nearly tallied a goal in the 40’ catching a cross before drilling it into the nets’ corner; the offside call dampened the strikes enthusiasm however. While the call was correct, the offensive involvement and ambition was another shining bright spot for Bayern moving forward.

The heavy dependency Bayern München have had on the feet of Robert Lewandowski has seriously hurt the team in recent Champions League play. I firmly believed that gaining more talent and width was crucial during the summer transfer window; diversifying offensive production was the idea.

Names like Ivan Perisic and Coutinho were selected to aid in those wide areas alongside Serge Gnabry, Kingsley Coman and Alphonso Davies. If Coutinho plays inside, that is just as well, however, gaining better efficiency out of the aforementioned names is the same as bringing in new names to play in those positions themselves. A productive and inspired Coutinho being spelled by Thomas Mueller, or playing alongside him in a different shape has distinct advantages.

The 44’ minute was another close call for Coutinho who missed outside the ride post. Another goal before the break would’ve been vibrant for the player and Bayern but spirits were nonetheless high moving into the second half.

The 48’ was Philippe Coutinho’s last real opportunity of the match, missing a strike over the right side of the crossbar. The way he moved within the shape of the offense and the desire to impact the match was of the greatest news to München’s cause.

While Bayern would score in the 80’ mark by the foot of Robert Lewandowski, Coutinho’s evening would be over just three minutes later. His sub Thomas Mueller would go on to score in stoppage time to finish the evening for Bayern at 3-0. The night was full of close calls and missed opportunities for the Brazilian number ten prior to his subbing, but the enthusiasm Niko Kovac has with Coutinho’s performance should be shared by the fan base as well.

The first start for Coutinho supposes his forms improvement back to the consistent nature he attained while in Merseyside at Liverpool FC. His future starts and subs will improve upon this matches performance and his orchestration of Niko Kovac’s vision on the pitch will sharpen with training and experience. It is not difficult to envision a Coutinho at Bayern remarkably similar to the one we witnessed in a Liverpool.

Bayern will need this Coutinho in Bavaria, without his imagination and creativity, they are destined to flame out shortly after group stages finish. With his passion and skill firmly harnessed, München has every opportunity to be a major player in the tournament; the potential of Bayern’s youth has been untapped actively in recent years, if Coutinho is that key or talisman so to speak then his arrival in Germany may be written about with wild acclaim in the years to come.