Niko Kovac Says Philippe Coutinho Will 'Improve' After First Bayern Munich Start

Niko Kovac was pleased with how Philippe Coutinho performed on his first start for Bayern Munich but knows there is more to come from the Barcelona loanee.

Coutinho, who arrived from the Camp Nou on a season-long loan two weeks ago, played 67 minutes of Bayern's 6-1 win over Mainz at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.

The playmaker wasn't in on the goals, but he still did enough to catch his manager's eye. Kovac talked up what Coutinho did and how he'll get better, per Bundesliga.com (h/t Goal's Josh Thomas):

"We want to build Philippe up and the opportunity presented itself here at home to put him in the starting line-up. He had some good moments, especially on the ball. He played one or two really good passes in behind the defence and we created a great chance from one of them."

"We know he's not 100 per cent fit yet, so we planned to give him 60 to 70 minutes here. He'll regain his fitness by playing. I'm happy with his performance, but I know he'll improve."

Coutinho has echoed the words of his boss and is already targeting improvement after an indifferent spell at Barca. He spoke to the same source and saluted how the quality of Bayern's squad will help him: "There are a lot of good players, top players and great players (here). I'm really happy to be here so that I can learn from them and get better."

The Brazil international will be aware of the challenge facing him if he's going to make the grade in Munich. He was replaced by Thomas Muller against Mainz, one of the cornerstones of the success Bayern have enjoyed, both domestically and in Europe, throughout this decade.

His introduction underlined the strength of the competition for places in Kovac's squad.

Success on the home front appears set to continue after Die Roten swept Mainz aside with six different goalscorers. The result has put Bayern second following a 2-2 draw with Hertha Berlin and a 3-0 win away to Schalke 04, a game in which Coutinho made his club debut off the bench.

Benjamin Pavard, David Alaba, Kingsley Coman, Robert Lewandowski, Alphonso Davies and Ivan Perisic all found the net. The latter is another loan capture this summer, having arrived from Inter Milan.

While Perisic is tasked with offering industry and a goal threat from wide areas, Coutinho will be expected to add flair in the middle. It's something he struggled to do during his time with Barca, where the former Liverpool man was often overshadowed by Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele.

At his best, Coutinho can give Bayern something the club lost this summer, namely a natural No. 10. James Rodriguez filled the role at times last season before the Colombian's loan spell from Real Madrid came to an end.

Coutinho has no shortage of players to supply at Bayern. Lewandowski, along with wide forwards Serge Gnabry and Coman, will all benefit from Coutinho's vision and technique.

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He'll also combine well with Thiago Alcantara in the engine room. Both have the ingenuity and artistry to form the creative heartbeat of Kovac's team.

Messi usually owned that role at Barca, while there was rarely another natural technician alongside Coutinho in the middle once Andres Iniesta had moved to Japan. Now that he's in Munich, Coutinho has everything he needs to revive his career and get back to his pre-Barcelona brilliance.