When Steven Gerrard brought Philippe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona in January this year, it was supposed to be a match made in heaven. Former teammates, who used to work so well while they were both wearing a red shirt of Liverpool. And initially, it went well. Coutinho needed no time at all to show that he’s still got the moves, but his form and Villa’s results turned for the worse when the new season started.##NAJAVA_MECA_6756844##The 30-year-old Brazilian has had a miserable time of it at Aston Villa since joining permanently on a four-year deal for $22 million. The stat that keeps getting worse now stands at one assist and no goals in his past 23 matches. And, now, as a result, Gerrard has got the sack – and Coutinho will get the axe!It’s widely considered that the former Barcelona, Inter, Bayern and Liverpool playmaker will miss out on a place in Brazil’s 26-man squad for Qatar. According to reports in Brazil, national coach Tite sees Flamengo’s Everton Ribeiro and Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino as his two “number tens” with Richarlison and Gabriel Jesus competing for a place in the centre of the attack. Прикажи ову објаву у апликацији Instagram Објава коју дели Aston Villa FC (@avfcofficial) Brazilian football expert and Spanish journalist Joaquim Piera believes that Coutinho has no chance of making the biggest tournament in world football.”The ‘Qatar project’ that Philippe started in January with his return to the Premier League with Aston Villa has failed. At 30 years old, he is a shadow of the midfielder who landed at Camp Nou in January 2018 who was going to conquer the world.”Despite being one of Tite’s favorite players, former Barça player Philippe Coutinho will not make Brazil’s World Cup squad. He is yet to score or give an assist this season.— @sport pic.twitter.com/Uy2vzvTVw8— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) October 26, 2022 It remains to be seen if new head coach Unai Emery can rediscover Coutinho’s spark. Spaniard Emery does, however, place a significant emphasis on his players running, pressing and working extremely hard, with the hard-working Emiliano Buendia currently ahead of Coutinho on the Villans’ team sheet.
