Philippe Coutinho may recapture his best form for Aston Villa after being left out of the Brazil squad, according to Alex McLeish.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Aston Villa and Scotland manager claimed Coutinho’s ego will be bruised by the decision.
As relayed by ESPN earlier this week (9 September) the 30-year-old has been left out of the Brazil squad for their upcoming friendlies against Tunisia and Ghana.
Aston Villa” class=”wp-image-393250″ srcset=”https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2022/02/Philippe-Coutinho-II-1024×683.jpeg 1024w, https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2022/02/Philippe-Coutinho-II-300×200.jpeg 300w, https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2022/02/Philippe-Coutinho-II-768×512.jpeg 768w, https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2022/02/Philippe-Coutinho-II-1140×760.jpeg 1140w, https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2022/02/Philippe-Coutinho-II-750×500.jpeg 750w, https://www.footballinsider247.com/static/uploads/1/2022/02/Philippe-Coutinho-II.jpeg 1200w” sizes=”(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px” />Coutinho has three goals in his last four games for his country and has not missed a squad for almost a year.
“It will be a huge blow to his ego and it will be a kick up the backside for him,” McLeish told Football Insider correspondent Ben Wild.
“He’s a great player and we all love to see him on top of his form. What I would say in recent years, he’s not been that consistent from when you first saw him in his younger years when he exploded onto the scene.
“He’s now 30, you would think he’s at his peak but some little trigger has not taken him to that peak level in the Premier League.
“We all saw him at Barcelona in Champions League nights and games like that.
“When he came to Villa and in the first couple of games he looked like a world-beater again, you wouldn’t want to play against him at all.
“I was at a game last season, West Ham. He was really good in the opening stages but David Moyes changed tactics and got a grip of him a little bit.
“It seems that, sometimes, he doesn’t have a great influence on games that you would expect.
“It’s the peak now of his career. I’m sure he’ll be hurt by being left out of the national team. It might give him that wee bit of motivation he needs to get back in there by giving exceptional performances for Aston Villa.
“It could be a win-win for Aston Villa. The manager’s praying for a guy that could make a difference.”
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By: Alex McLeish
Title: Coutinho may explode at Aston Villa after ‘huge’ news – pundit
Sourced From: www.footballinsider247.com/philippe-coutinho-may-explode-at-aston-villa-after-huge-news-pundit/
Published Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2022 12:00:00 +0000
