Coutinho Owns Up To Barcelona Struggles

By Max Wise

Philippe Coutinho has admitted that his performances at Barcelona have not been up to scratch since joining from Liverpool in January 2018.

Barcelona broke the bank to secure the services of Coutinho but he has not been able to replicate the sort of form he had shown in England.

The former Inter Milan midfielder made 54 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona last season including 34 in La Liga but only 22 of those league appearances came from the start.

Coutinho also found the back of the net 11 times last term but he was jeered on several occasions by the Barcelona fans, who were discontent with the Brazilian’s output in games.

After scoring a brace in Brazil’s 3-0 win over Bolivia in the opening game of the 2019 Copa America, Coutinho admitted to his struggles in Spain in a message to Barcelona fans.

Coutinho said: "I do not have much to say to them; I am grateful for all the support that I have always received.

"I had a tough time on the field because I have not performed as expected, but football is like that and I'm working hard to improve."

Speaking about his role in Brazil's opening win of the tournament, he added: "It's a very happy day to have scored two goals, to have helped the team and come out with a victory."

Brazil’s next game is against Venezuela on Wednesday before rounding off their group stage games against Peru.