Arsenal, Philippe Coutinho (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)
Arsenal continues to be linked with Philippe Coutinho, but it continues to be a bad, and ever-worsening, idea. Here are three reasons he’s just another Ozil.
This is the part of the article—and so early—where I feel remorse that I have to speak poorly of Mesut Ozil again. Given how much he has done for the world, let alone the club, he remains one of the few Arsenal players who I actually regret to criticize, even though it’s strictly about his performances on the pitch. That said, Philippe Coutinho is at stake, so what must be done, must be done.
Recent reports have indicated that if the Gunners want to land Philippe Coutinho on a loan, they are going to have to fork up £9m just for that, and Barcelona will be slapping on an obligatory purchase clause of £63m. So we’d essentially just be buying Coutinho for £72m.
Which is such a stupid, worthless, pointless, ridiculous, horrid, awful, no-good, brainless, spineless move that it makes me sick. But not sick enough to get a thesaurus to find more adjectives for stupid. Futile. Ill-advised.
Arsenal must avoid Philippe Coutinho for 3 parallel reasons
One of the biggest problems Arsenal have faced in recent years is the handcuff that Mesut Ozil has provided them, both on and off the pitch, financially and based on his performances. So why would we be in a hurry to make the same mistake again?
Here are three reasons why Coutinho would just be another Mesut Ozil—in a bad way.
3. Cost!
Duh! We’re spending all that money on the guy—which wouldn’t technically be a club record, even though all together, it would be—and then locking into his massive wage package for years. Doing the same thing we did with Ozil and how many times have we been stuck financially because Ozil’s wage package is too much to navigate around.
Hell, it cost us Aaron Ramsey. So who will Coutinho cost us?
It’s not a sensible investment. It’s not a help for the future. It’s a glitzy, glamor signing that we very specifically don’t need.
On to No. 2.
Arsenal players who I actually regret to criticize, even though it’s strictly about his performances on the pitch. That said, <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/06/04/arsenal-3-philippe-coutinho-mesut-ozil/"https://fbref.com/en/players/0ef89a37/Philippe-Coutinho?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Philippe Coutinho</a> is at stake, so what must be done, must be done.</p>
<p><a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/06/04/arsenal-3-philippe-coutinho-mesut-ozil/"https://www.football365.com/news/barcelona-philippe-coutinho-mikel-arteta-arsenal">Recent reports</a> have indicated that if the Gunners want to land Philippe Coutinho on a loan, they are going to have to fork up £9m just for that, and Barcelona will be slapping on an obligatory purchase clause of £63m. So we’d essentially just be buying Coutinho for £72m.</p>
<p>Which is such a stupid, worthless, pointless, ridiculous, horrid, awful, no-good, brainless, spineless move that it makes me sick. But not sick enough to get a thesaurus to find more adjectives for stupid. Futile. Ill-advised.</p>
<h3>Arsenal must avoid Philippe Coutinho for 3 parallel reasons</h3>
<p>One of the biggest problems Arsenal have faced in recent years is the handcuff that Mesut Ozil has provided them, both on and off the pitch, financially and based on his performances. So why would we be in a hurry to make the same mistake again?</p>
<p>Here are three reasons why Coutinho would just be another Mesut Ozil—in a bad way.</p>
<h4>3. Cost!</h4>
<p>Duh! We’re spending all that money on the guy—which wouldn’t technically be a club record, even though all together, it would be—and then locking into his massive wage package for years. Doing the same thing we did with Ozil and how many times have we been stuck financially because Ozil’s wage package is too much to navigate around.</p>
<p>Hell, it cost us <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/06/04/arsenal-3-philippe-coutinho-mesut-ozil/"https://fbref.com/en/players/ef619b0b/Aaron-Ramsey?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Aaron Ramsey</a>. So who will Coutinho cost us?</p>
<p>It’s not a sensible investment. It’s not a help for the future. It’s a glitzy, glamor signing that we very specifically don’t need.</p>
<p>On to No. 2.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/06/04/arsenal-3-philippe-coutinho-mesut-ozil/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 2. Til death do us part </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-100819" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/06/04/arsenal-3-philippe-coutinho-mesut-ozil/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1942,w_3200/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1206349431.jpeg" alt="Arsenal, Philippe Coutinho" width="3200" height="1942" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1206349431.jpeg 3200w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1206349431-768x466.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1206349431-268x162.jpeg 268w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Arsenal, Philippe Coutinho (Photo by CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<h4>2. Commitment</h4>
<p>While the wage structure that Ozil completely ruins (not his fault, it’s Wenger’s, but still…) is the biggest drawback to such signings, it’s also a major drawback that we’re essentially committing to years of Coutinho being the centerpiece given the obligatory purchase clause.</p>
<p>Ozil’s situation became even worse when Wenger left because Unai Emery did not jive with him and <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/06/04/arsenal-3-philippe-coutinho-mesut-ozil/"https://fbref.com/en/players/d934d1e6/Mikel-Arteta?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Mikel Arteta</a> is only using him to try to milk some kind of value out of him, but it’s clear his value ran out years ago. He doesn’t create goals anymore, and that’s literally the only thing he was brought here to do.</p>
<p>But we also can’t sell him because his wage package is just too big.</p>
<p>Are we going to walk into the same level of commitment with Coutinho? What if he has one good year and then for three years we’re just begging him to have a better attitude on the pitch, to get back and defend, to do what we bought him for and create goals?</p>
<p>I’m not thrilled about the prospect of locking in to another luxury player. Speaking of which, No. 1.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/06/04/arsenal-3-philippe-coutinho-mesut-ozil/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 1 And most importantly... </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-100817" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/06/04/arsenal-3-philippe-coutinho-mesut-ozil/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1204308396.jpeg" alt="Arsenal, Philippe Coutinho" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1204308396.jpeg 1600w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1204308396-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Arsenal, Philippe Coutinho (Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)</p>
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<h4>1. Is he what we need?</h4>
<p>Correct answer: No! He’s absolutely not what we need. In fact, I’d say he’s the complete opposite of what we need.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing—Coutinho is talented. He’s a superb creator. But he’s also, like Ozil, a luxury player. He isn’t going to defend. He isn’t going to cover a lot of ground. He is in the side for one reason—to create and score goals. The exact same reason why Mesut Ozil was purchased and why he has since failed.</p>
<p>The big reason why Ozil failed at Arsenal is because we didn’t have the kind of club that supported such a luxury player. We would have needed an elite and fortified attack and midfield and to be at a Liverpool-level to match what Ozil had at Real Madrid and we just didn’t have that.</p>
<p>We don’t have that now either. So what, are we hoping that Coutinho can be something that he’s not, or are we hoping that we can build the team around him in time to not completely lose his interest?</p>
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<p>It just doesn’t make sense, and it never has.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
