Why Coutinho hasn't lived up to expectations at Barcelona

#2 Conservatism of Valverde

Ernesto Valverde has been overly pragmatic

In his debut season, Valverde broke the Cryuffjist 4-3-3 shape that Barca became synonymous with, his go-to system last season was an asymmetrical 4-4-2 with Messi and Suarez acting as the two forwards and an extra midfielder as a shuttle player, usually Paulinho. The interactions in this system allowed for stable buildups and control of the game in both the offensive and defensive phases.

This season saw Barcelona revert to their favoured 4-3-3 formation but with less solidity. Ousmane Dembele was to be given a more prominent role and Valverde simply had to find a way to accommodate both of his big signings into the starting XI. So, far we have seen why Coutinho can't come into the team as a winger.

The only other option is midfield. The Barcelona midfield sets a very high bar of technical qualities. Ball retention, high pressing (high work rate), properly utilising time and space are a must. Similarly, a typical Barca midfield would consist of a creator, a controller, and a lynchpin. Under Valverde, though, defensive qualities have taken over. Given, the heavy defensive duties of the controller and the lynchpin, Coutinho simply can't be effective there. As for the third midfielder, Coutinho hasn't been able to hold ball under high pressure. Factually, he's twice as likely to get dispossessed than any other Barcelona midfielder(as per Whoscored.com).

Setting up the formation to field a player as good as Coutinho in midfield might seem easy in theory but Valverde still has to figure it out. The trick is to utilize him so that he shows all his strengths but hides most of the weaknesses. Is Valverde the right man to do that? That’s also a question that still needs answering.