The Dutchman hopes to recover the best version of the Brazilian and that he will be the same as Liverpool
Repescarle has been a priority for the coach and the player wants to vindicate himself and triumph for Barça
Rechanging Philippe Coutinho , already training with Barça, was one of Ronald Koeman's first decisions . The Dutchman spoke with the Brazilian after the Champions League final and told him that he is counting on him for his new project as Barça coach. Koeman trained in the Premier, Southampton first and Everton later, when Coutinho showed his best level in the ranks of Liverpool. The new Barça coach suffered it then as a victim and was captivated by the quality and talent of the Brazilian. Koeman is convinced that he can recover the best Coutinhoand that he is a footballer who fits perfectly in the Barça that he is designing in his mind.
Hence, repeating Coutinho and talking to him so that he arrives motivated and ready to be the one from before was one of Ronald Koeman's priorities . The Brazilian has spent a season on loan at Bayern, with whom he has conquered the treble and has had an irregular performance. The numbers of his time at the Allianz Arena are better than the sensations he has left in Munich , since he was expected to be the undisputed starter and in the end he has been an important footballer, but turned into player number twelve. He has scored eight goals in the Bundesliga and three in the Champions League , many of them coming off the bench, like the two he scored for Barça in the quarter-final win.
One fact that shows the importance of Coutinho in the Bayern season is that only three players from the German team can boast of having played all eleven Champions League games , in which Bayern certainly signed a historic record: 11 victories. The goalkeeper Neuer , the versatile Kimmich and Coutinho are the only ones who have participated in all of Bayern's European matches. Five as a starter and six as a substitute, but Coutinho has not missed a game.
Koeman knows that the Brazilian returns with his self-esteem through the roof and ready to vindicate himself at the Camp Nou. He does not forget that he is the most expensive signing in the history of the Barça club and he has a thorn in it, since he is aware that during the season and a half he spent in Barcelona he could only show his talent in a trickle and on very specific occasions.
The new coach is convinced, and even more after the talk with the Brazilian, that he can recover the best Coutinho , the same one who dazzled in the Premier before signing for Barça. There is 'overbooking' of midfielders and also a large number of forwards, but in the variants that Koeman is imagining for his Barça, Coutinho fits in perfectly.
The player went to Brazil to enjoy a few days of vacation after winning the hat-trick with Bayern but has returned earlier to be under Koeman's command , to fight for a place in the starting eleven and to be able to demonstrate, even for two years and a half later, that Barça was not wrong betting on him. He wants to be the new Coutinho that Koeman expects and to be able to succeed, this time, at the Camp Nou