Potential Breakout Stars of 2013-14 Season Series - Philippe Coutinho

With the Barclays Premiere League starting from next month onwards, a lot of players would be training hard to make a mark for themselves. They would be trying to replicate the successes of the Gareth Bales and the Santi Cazorlas of the previous season.This year though plenty of players are poised to take the next big leap in their career by establishing themselves among the very best. We will have a look at a series of such players from the Premiere League who could be the breakout stars of this season.

The first player that we will look in this series is Philippe Coutinho of Liverpool. He has got all the attributes that you expect from a Brazilian- plenty of tricks, ample creativity and an excellent reading of the game. Coutinho was bought from Inter Milan last season by Brendan Rodgers in the January transfer market. During his spell at Inter Milan he showed glimpses of talent but it was his short loan spell at Espanyol that brought him to the notice of many and helped him develop as a player. However lack of first team opportunities at Inter Milan saw him move out to Liverpool.

His arrival at Liverpool was viewed with a lot of skepticism among the Red supporters because he had a history of injury problems and also the fact that Inter Milan usually don’t allow their best players to leave. His ability to cope with the physical demands of the Premiere League was another issue raised by a selected few.

But Coutinho silenced all his critics by putting up some sensational displays for his new team . The best of him was seen when Luis Suarez was suspended for his infamous biting incident of Branislav Ivanovic. With Suarez not in the squad, Brendan Rodgers moved Coutinho from the left wing to the central playmaker position behind Daniel Sturridge. The new position brought the best of Coutinho,especially his creativity in the final third of the pitch.

However there a lot of other attributes that he needs to work on especially his physical game. He can seek inspiration from former Liverpool striker Michael Owen who inspite of his short posture, like Coutinho, achieved huge success during his time at Merseyside.
For Coutinho playing for Brazil would be his ultimate dream.

Especially with the 2014 World cup being held in his home country he would definitely not want to miss out on that. With plenty of new faces arriving at Anfield this summer, Coutinho holds the key for Liverpool’s push to the top four. If he succeeds in taking Liverpool to the top four,  I won’t be surprised to see his name being featured in Luiz Felipe Scolari’s 23 man World Cup squad .