Breaking Down Philippe Coutinho's Performance for Liverpool vs. Newcastle

Liverpool regained a foothold on the race for the Premier League's top four with a 2-0 win at home to Newcastle United on Monday night, and they have the virtuoso performance of Philippe Coutinho to thank for this.

Goals from Raheem Sterling and Joe Allen sealed the three points, leaving the Reds just four points behind the flailing Manchester City, who sit in fourth place.

Coutinho, adopting an unusual role on the night, provided the creative zeal that spurred Brendan Rodgers' side to victory.

So how did Coutinho perform for Liverpool against Newcastle?

Jon Super/Associated Press

The False-Nine Role

Following disappointing performances against Swansea City, Manchester United, Arsenal and in the first FA Cup clash with Blackburn Rovers, Rodgers bemoaned his side's lack of cutting edge, as relayed by the club's official website.

"In the last four games that we've played, we haven't created as much, and that's more on ourselves," Rodgers claimed. "That's something that we want to reinforce—the creativity for chances and hopefully taking those chances.

"It's my job to always look to find the solutions, that's what I've tried to do in the games when we didn't look like scoring, finding a way to win."

Using a 4-3-3 formation in the FA Cup quarter-final replay win over Rovers, Rodgers restored some of Liverpool's potency, but an injury sustained by centre-forward Daniel Sturridge in that clash left the manager needing to alter his tactical plan even further.

This came by utilising Coutinho in a false-nine role in a similar 4-3-3.

Last year, Jonathan Wilson outlined two ways in which a false nine can be utilised in modern football, writing for Bleacher Report:

"

Most classically, it is a player who seems to operate where a traditional centre-forward would but then drops deep, becoming almost a playmaker, leaving space into which players can break from midfield and the flanks.

But there is a new interpretation (that has more to do with the player than his positioning), which is to deploy a midfielder as a centre-forward, still operating high as an orthodox centre-forward would, but using his skill set less as a goal threat than to retain possession, creating chances almost by attrition.

"

Against Newcastle, Coutinho operated in a role more in fitting with the second definition that Wilson provided, with Sterling and Jordon Ibe cutting in from wide areas, feeding off the Liverpool No. 10's creativity.

With the Reds dominating for large portions of the night, this tactical switch paid off for Rodgers.

Jon Super/Associated Press

The Performance

Rodgers revealed his thinking behind Coutinho's positioning to reporters, including Tom Dutton of the London Evening Standard, after the game.

"I played him in that role just in front of the centre-halves, thinking that we could exploit the space in between their midfield and the centre-halves and create space for players to make runs in behind. I thought he was sensational," Rodgers detailed.

Despite being deployed in a traditionally attacking role, Coutinho was tasked with performing as Liverpool's primary playmaker.

This involved the Brazilian dropping deep, drifting wide and driving forward in equal measures, linking well with the probing Jordan Henderson and Joe Allen, as well as Sterling in his inside-forward role, Ibe as more of a byline-hugging winger and Glen Johnson and Alberto Moreno as overlapping full-backs.

Coutinho was everywhere, touching the ball 83 times—second only to defensive midfielder Lucas Leiva—and playing 66 passes, of which 63 were short, maintaining a frenetic rhythm and intricate style of play.

Particularly in the first half of proceedings, this overwhelmed the Newcastle defence.

In the above example, Newcastle's Daryl Janmaat—operating in a centre-back role for the night—is drawn to Coutinho's run along with Jack Colback, Gabriel Obertan and the rather lacklustre Moussa Sissoko.

Jon Super/Associated Press

This was indicative of Coutinho's role, with Moreno's inside run mirroring that of Sterling, Ibe and often Allen throughout the night, feeding off the space the midfielder created.

On the introduction of Fabio Borini in place of Ibe in the second half, Coutinho's role altered slightly, moving to a more traditional No. 10 role, but he performed with the same verve—Borini's off-the-shoulder centre-forward's role served as a constant outlet, as opposed to on the overlap.

Coutinho lost possession of the ball just twice, the joint-least of any Liverpool player to complete the full 90 minutes, with only centre-back Emre Can—performing a less adventurous role, naturally—as economical on the ball.

The one area that can be detracted from Coutinho's Anfield performance was a profligacy in front of goal:

However, given Rodgers' assessment of his role after the game, it can be argued that this was not in the 22-year-old's remit—adding a goal would have been nice, but Coutinho performed his duties too superbly.

Jon Super/Associated Press

Has Rodgers Found His Solution?

After speaking of finding "solutions" to Liverpool's lack of creativity, Rodgers' use of Coutinho in a false-nine role certainly did so at Anfield on Monday night.

Continuing his post-match appraisal, the manager claimed: "[Coutinho's] become stronger, become more tactically aware and I think you see him now really orchestrating the game for us. It was an outstanding performance tonight, he looked very fit and strong, and he’s had a wonderful season."

These words suggest that Rodgers would be happy to continue with Coutinho in this unorthodox position, and this is one that can definitely work in some situations.

However, as Liverpool's struggle to capitalise on their dominance and Coutinho's poor shooting accuracy highlights, against teams of a higher calibre of all-round performance—upcoming Premier League opponents Chelsea or potential FA Cup finalists Arsenal, for example—this could be an issue.

Jamie Carragher, speaking as part of Sky Sports' Monday Night Football coverage, reiterated this after the game: "I don’t think that false nine role will be his. Obviously Sturridge is out. But we’ve seen him behind the front, the main striker tonight, and he was outstanding."

When Sturridge returns to fitness, the creativity that Coutinho displayed against Newcastle could be even more devastating.

However, with Liverpool running out 2-0 winners over Newcastle Untied at Anfield on Monday night, Philippe Coutinho's performance—in his initial false-nine role in particular—won the Reds the game, and this can prove one of several useful solutions as Brendan Rodgers looks to continue a charge on the Premier League's top four.

Statistics via WhoScored.com.

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