Unai Emery believes Philippe Coutinho can once again become a world beater, labelling the Brazilian “one of the best” within his Aston Villa squad. Last weekend, Emery rewarded Coutinho with his first Premier League start in four months against Arsenal. The one-time £142m man repaid his manager’s faith in him to notch his first goal of the season to put Villa back ahead – only for Arsenal to battle back to win 4-2. Emery, meanwhile, has been pleased with the former Liverpool ace’s attitude and performances of late, while also revealing how he had a one-to-one with the player inside his Bodymoor Heath manager’s office not long after he replaced Steven Gerrard back in October.
Unai Emery said: “I’ve met with him to speak about his wishes and objectives and he’s happy here. He was injured and was out for one month but, conversely, he was training very well and he has started playing more minutes. Firstly it’s about what he wants and he wants to be committed, he wants help to show his skills and his quality. He is training very well and for me he is one of the best once he’s up to speed. Then we try in each match to give every player the possibility to play and he is one more. He is a No.10 and the link between our midfield and the striker. He is usually a creator of goals and he is a specialist passer of the ball. He is a very good player who gets in the box and tries to score goals. As a No.10 he has an important part to play in this position for the team. But of course he is a special player because of his amazing past, playing for Liverpool, playing for the Brazil national team, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. But now he is 30-years-old and that is not too old to try and reproduce his best performances.”
Asked if Coutinho’s best days are behind him given he turns 31 in the summer,
Unai Emery replied: “No, we have to help him and support him. We have to use him in his best position and feeling good in the team, and then he wil;l play like he can. For example he played very well against Manchester City in the last 20 minutes and in the last match against Arsenal he didn’t produce his best performance. But he is continually trying. He is ready to compete because football is not only about skills, not only workrate, it’s also about being competitive. And being competitive is the duty of each player. But players like him are very experienced. He knows when he is playing well, he knows when he is not playing well. He knows when people demand more of him and he has to adapt and accept the criticism and remain strong mentally. He has to perform to the best of his ability to help the team. I think he is happy with his teammates and he is happy here at Aston Villa. Of course we are going to test him because we are very demanding in terms of performance. And Philippe is the same as any other player in that respect.”
Coutinho, meanwhile, is a doubt for Villa’s trip to Everton on Saturday after picking up a muscle injury, while back-up goalkeeper Jed Steer and Diego Carlos remain sidelined.
