COUTINHO CAN BE THE KEY
ARSENAL are finding it tough to get the best out of £42m record signing Mesut Ozil.
But rival boss Brendan Rodgers has hailed his own playmaker “a snip’’.
Philippe Coutinho cost Liverpool just £8.5m, but the 20 - year- old Brazilian was the principal architect of the Gunners’ Anfield humiliation last week.
With £ 37m Juan Mata also struggling to make an impact in that role at Manchester United, Coutinho’s passing mastery has helped haul his club into the title race.
As the youngster aims to hand out a second dose of punishment to Arsene Wenger’s team in the FA Cup today, Rodgers admits Coutinho has the wow factor.
“Philippe is an absolutely wonderful talent and a snip at the price,” he said.
“There are very few players at this level now who penetrate with a pass.
“When I worked at Chelsea I used to watch Deco. I still remember his first training session, when he got a round of applause. Just pure quality. This is what Coutinho has, too.
“He’s a little street footballer. He has wonderful vision, but he’s also got that wee bit of steel.
“Every single day he does something that makes me say, ‘Wow, what a talent’.
“Top players like to know there are other top players around them. Stevie Gerrard probably never knew a great deal about Philippe, but straight away I could tell he thought he was a really good player.
“You see the trust they have in each other. Stevie will feed Philippe the ball and in turn Philippe knows he has that security behind him.”
Rodgers’ “chihuahua” comments last week show his reluctance to talk up his team’s chances in the Premier League title race, but he has no such qualms about their ambitions in the FA Cup.
“The idea is to win it,” he confirmed. “I hav e n’t always played the strongest side in cups. Last season I gave opportunities to the squad but we weren’t good enough.
“This season we’ve played strong teams because we want to win it.
“The first half against Arsenal last week was as good as it gets. It was a beautiful game from a coach’s point of view.
“I can only remember being involved in one other game like it — when I was coach at Chelsea and we went 3- 0 up against Barcelona. It was at that level.
“But Arsenal have top players. They will hurt. They’ll be determined to get through to the next round.”
Liverpool are the latest target for Jose Mourinho’s mind games, the Special One claiming that they have an advantage in the title run-in because they have no European football.
“I take it as a compliment that he’s drawing us in, but I know Jose and I know the game,” added Rodgers.
“Not being in the Champions League means I can work more with the players, but the strength of the squads is relative.
“I haven’t seen any club that’s not been in Europe win the League recently.”
He has wonderful vision but also that wee bit of steel