In truth Coutinho rarely played as an out and out 10. For most of his LFC career he played as an inside left in a 4-3-3 and then last season and parts of the previous year he played as one of a midfield 3.
I don't believe Keita is a 10 either BUT he does offer some similar attributes as Coutinho did i.e.
- He is a decent dribbler who will attack space when He sees it
- he has an excellent eye for a pass, particularly the through ball
- he moves the ball very quickly, is quick on the turn and comfortable receiving possession in congested areas
Whilst he won't replace Coutinho as a 10 I suspect his presence in a deeper role will afford the team more fluidity and creativity which should dampen the long-term impact of losing a player of Coutinho's unique talents. I think he will play as the furthest forward of the three midfielders for much of the season but obviously he is a versatile player who can sit or be now to box also.
Coutinho played on the left with Rodgers and was wasted.
Under klopp he has played more central. Even played as the 8 on some occasions with Lallana infront of him as the 10.
We then had the Fab Four and coutinho obviously would have played much more in the 10 for us then. If coutinho had stayed then that front four would have been brutal and I'd go as far as saying we would have been unstoppable with the additions of VVD, Alisson and Keita too. Good luck to anyone playing that team. And that's how close we are. We're extremely close and fekir would have been massive for us.
He has been compared to kante several times already but it's a good comparison. Keita is very much like him but he's better on the ball. He charges forward with the ball more than kante does and you're right he does have a decent pass on him, he can hit them as well, he's boss.
But he doesn't have that magic or that type of creativity i associate with a number 10. Keita is very aggressive and direct, he's all about power, pace, energy etc.
If we're 70 minutes into a game and it's a 0-0 and we're struggling to break down some shithouse team then I won't be expecting Keita to come up with a defence splitting pass to win the game. He's not that type of player. That's when you need a coutinho or a fekir, somebody with that bit of magic. And that's what were lacking or what were short on.
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