Why Philippe Coutinho Can Be the No. 1 Creative Midfielder in the Premier League

After a rise to continued excellence this season, Liverpool No. 10 Philippe Coutinho is showing he has the potential to become the very best creative midfielder in the Premier League.

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The 22-year-old's Brazilian compatriot and Barcelona forward Neymar recently claimed, per David Anderson of the Mirror, that "[Coutinho] can be the star player in England.

"When he has the ball at his feet, he can make things happen for himself and he can make things happen for other players. He is a very special player," Neymar continued.

The Brazil captain's gushing praise highlights Coutinho as a supreme creative talent, with a great potential to develop and establish himself as the league's best.

So can Coutinho really become the No. 1 creative midfielder in the Premier League?

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Early Season Struggles, Formation Change

This claim would have been a risible one had Coutinho continued the lowly form that marked the first half of his 2014/15 season.

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Struggling following the loss of Luis Suarez to Neymar's Barcelona, Rodgers adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation, with a view to magnifying the talents of Daniel Sturridge as a lone striker supported by Coutinho, Raheem Sterling and new signing Adam Lallana.

However, more often than not, this saw Coutinho fielded in a left-wing role.

This was a bizarre regression, considering Rodgers outlined last season following the loan signing of Victor Moses from Chelsea how he wished to build his side around Coutinho in the No. 10 role, as reported by the club's official website:

"

Victor can play anywhere across that front line, but probably his best position is on the left cutting in onto his right foot. That may allow Philippe more opportunities to play as that third man and be the connection between our midfield and front players.

[...]

Philippe will get the opportunity to play more in that No.10 role, which is probably his preferred position.

"

Lallana, who was predominantly utilised as a left winger by his former Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino, would have been expected to continue this Moses role, but Coutinho spent most of the first half of the season shunted out wide.

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This changed in Rodgers' mid-December switch to the now-successful 3-4-2-1 formation, in the Reds' ultimately encouraging 3-0 loss away to Manchester United.

Coutinho now operates in his favoured No. 10 role in the dual-supporting midfield positions behind Liverpool's lone striker, and he is flourishing.

But where does he compare against the rest of the Premier League's best creative midfielders?

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The Contenders

It is fair to say that in order to quantify creativity, one must consider both assists and key passes, with the former a direct indicator of creativity and the latter a marker of most nuanced ingenuity—taking Coutinho as a prime example, some midfielders occupy a pass-before-the-assist role.

Since Coutinho's mid-December turn in form, there are only two midfielders to record more assists than the 22-year-old: Eden Hazard of Chelsea and Santi Cazorla of Arsenal.

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Beyond that pair, West Ham United's Stewart Downing, Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas, Southampton's Dusan Tadic, Tottenham Hotspur's Christian Eriksen, Manchester United's Juan Mata and Manchester City's David Silva stand out as the most successful creative players in Coutinho's position this season.

So where does Coutinho rank among this group?

Using Coutinho's improvement in form in his natural role as a marker, the table below compares the midfielder with his contemporaries in terms of assists and key passes on average per 90 minutes.

The table also considers take-ons and tackles per 90, as both of these factors can contribute to a midfielder's creativity—ensuring they are in the right position to make the pass.

	Games	Assists per 90	Key Passes per 90	Take-Ons per 90	Tackles per 90
Coutinho	14	0.30	2.11	3.16	2.11
Hazard	13	0.38	2.85	4.77	0.85
Cazorla	14	0.39	2.08	2.78	2.08
Downing	14	0.14	1.81	0.80	0.58
Fabregas	10	0.44	2.10	1.22	2.32
Tadic	12	0.14	2.40	0.28	1.13
Eriksen	14	0.15	2.62	1.12	0.90
Mata	12	0.25	1.65	0.51	0.76
Silva	14	0.08	2.98	1.61	0.72

(Statistics averaged per 90, based on games from December 13, 2014, via Squawka.com.)

Of this group, Coutinho is fourth in terms of assists made per 90, with 0.3; only Hazard, Cazorla and Fabregas have made more since mid-December.

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Of this group of four, Coutinho is second in terms of key passes made per 90, with 2.11; only Hazard has made more since mid-December.

Again, Coutinho is second only to Hazard in terms of take-ons per 90, with 3.16 compared to the Chelsea man's rate of 4.77 per 90.

Where Coutinho excels compared to Hazard is in terms of defending from the front, with his average of 2.11 tackles per 90 since mid-December dwarfing that of the 24-year-old's 0.85; in fact, of this group, only the deeper-lying Fabregas has made more, with an average of 2.32 tackles per 90.

However, while Coutinho bests Hazard in this sense, the Belgian is by far and away the supreme creative midfielder with all four factors considered.

But as Hazard is two years Coutinho's senior, can the Liverpool man make this No. 1 spot his own in the future?

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Potential to Grow

This season, after Rodgers' switch to the 3-4-2-1 formation and his return to a central role, Coutinho has finally reached a level of consistency that has dogged his time at Liverpool so far.

The 22-year-old no longer drifts to the periphery, and a February contract renewal that will keep him at the club until 2020, as reported by The Telegraph's Chris Bascombe, highlights his position as one of Liverpool's key players.

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That Coutinho has improved even further during this period showcases his trajectory.

This can be seen in a recent, and remarkable, development in his finishing ability—before which Coutinho told Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo: "Whenever possible, I have post-training sessions to work on improving my shooting accuracy."

Coutinho has scored three goals in 11 appearances since that revelation, whereas in his previous 30 games this season the No. 10 found the back of the net just twice; the curling long-range effort is now becoming Coutinho's trademark.

"

Coutinho has scored "one goal three times" last month. https://t.co/0bOP9cWqou

— Football Vines (@Vine_Football) March 3, 2015"

However, while this is an indicator of Coutinho's potential to develop, Rodgers detailed on this contract announcement how he sees the midfielder as a primarily creative talent.

"If you look at that type of player he is, you look at [Luka] Modric," Rodgers claimed. "He doesn't have a big goalscoring record, but he is a world-class player, a continuity player."

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Rodgers continued: "He can make passes and put the ball in behind and he gets the odd goal from outside the box. He is a top-class player who can create the game who is so important in opening up doors for the team."

"Phil's numbers will improve, but it is not the be all and end all if he doesn't get 20 a season," Rodgers rounded off.

But while his protective caveat ensures unwelcome pressure isn't heaped on the prodigious No. 10, the salient note is that Rodgers believes Coutinho will continue to improve.

Brendan Rodgers clearly believes Philippe Coutinho has the potential to rise above Eden Hazard, maintain consistency and become the No. 1 creative midfielder in the Premier League.

Statistics via Squawka.com and WhoScored.com.

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