Pundit suggests that Philippe Coutinho has mentality problem amidst Spurs links

Former Bayern Munich man, Giovane Elber, believes that Philippe Coutinho lacks aggression, which is why his performances have dropped off considerably over the last two years.

Coutinho was widely considered to be one of the best offensive midfielders in world football during his final couple of seasons at Liverpool.

One could certainly understand why Barcelona forked out £142 million for the Brazilian’s services back in January 2018 (Express).

However, the midfielder failed to hit the expected heights at Barcelona and his loan spell at Bayern Munich looks to be ending this summer as the Bavarians reportedly do not wish to exercise the option to make the deal permanent (Mirror).

Tottenham are reportedly ready to offer the 27-year-old a route back to the Premier League (Nicolo Schira).

Elber believes that, while Coutinho has an abundance of talent, there are question marks over his mentality.

The former Brazilian international told Goal: “When Philippe arrived at Bayern, everybody hoped that we would see the same Coutinho from Liverpool, where he had great games, but he came after a season at Barcelona where things weren’t good for him. I think maybe that stuck in his head.

“I think he’s a person who gets shaken very easily when things aren’t going so well. He’s not a person who thinks, ‘I’m Philippe Coutinho and I’m going to fix this.’

“It’s different from one person to another but, during my time, we had some players – Roque Santa Cruz, the Paraguayan, for example – who were like this.

“There are people who think ‘I’m going to nail this game’ and there are others that get shaken. I think Coutinho lacks some aggression. It’s a shame because he’s a great player.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Coutinho does seem like a confidence player and his self-belief took a massive hit during his time at Barcelona, particularly because he was played as a wide-forward, which is not his best position. Jose Mourinho could be the man to help restore his belief but I don’t think we are going to be in a position to afford the Brazilian this summer.

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