Matt Maher and Jonny Drury discuss Philippe Coutinho's departure from Aston Villa.
The former Barcelona star headed out on a second loan spell last month - after a tough couple of seasons at Villa Park.
They look back at his big arrival under Steven Gerrard - and why it hasn't gone to plan for the Brazilian.
The former Barcelona star headed out on a second loan spell last month - after a tough couple of seasons at Villa Park.
They look back at his big arrival under Steven Gerrard - and why it hasn't gone to plan for the Brazilian.
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00:00Matt, a player or another player who's going to be departing Aston Villa this summer is
00:11Philip Coutinho. Someone who arrived with sort of big, big hopes in the Steven Gerrard
00:17short era for Aston Villa. Came in on loan, did OK early on, then came in for £17 million.
00:25Rooney Emery never really made an impact, has been out on loan, heading back out on
00:31loan now to the club where he started his career. Just reflecting on his time at Aston
00:37Villa, obviously a massive name when he came in, but what sort of went wrong for Coutinho?
00:43Was it just a case he was never an Emery player?
00:46He was never fit, essentially. I think it does come down to a couple of injuries, hadn't
00:52he? A boss with fairly serious injuries, let's not try and downplay them. His issue,
00:58particularly in the last two years since Emery's arrival, has been staying on the field. I
01:05think that sees the first full season at Aston Villa, there were at least three, possibly
01:10four hamstring injuries. Every time it looked like he was about to take off and gain some
01:16momentum, it all got disrupted and stopped by injuries. He struggled for form, obviously,
01:26but I do think it's the injuries that have done for him. He's 31 now, but he feels very
01:36old, 31, having watched him. He scored in the game against Arsenal two seasons ago and
01:46played well in that game, but then got injured in that game and that was pretty much it for
01:53him.
01:56In retrospect, people at the time, bear in mind this guy who was sold, he's still the
02:02third most expensive player in the history of the game, when for Villa to get 17 million
02:08after a pretty decent loan spell under Steven Gerrard, it felt like a bit of a no-brainer
02:14at the time. Some people may have written that, me included, but in retrospect it was
02:24a bad deal. He's really not lived up to expectations. He was a huge factor in Gerrard leaving the
02:33club because he kept on backing him in that first bit of that season when it all went
02:38wrong for Gerrard. He kept on backing Villa Coutinho and Coutinho just didn't deliver.
02:45Speeds went on at Villa, they'll say what a good guy he is. I honestly don't think it's
02:49been for the want of trying. I don't think it's a question of attitude or that he's mentally
02:55kind of checked out on his career. I just think his body is starting to give up on him.
03:01The reports in the Brazilian press say that he's going back to Brazil because he's determined
03:07to get back into the Brazil national squad, which is great ambition. I'd be really surprised
03:15if he manages it, but fair play to him and good luck to him. This is a loan. Villa wanted
03:21him off the books permanently. He's one of the highest earners. That's the other factor
03:25in this. But obviously Vasco de Gama doesn't have huge money, it's not like the Premier
03:30League. So it's a loan deal. Villa will hope that perhaps by the end of next summer they'll
03:39be in a position where they can pay off the rest of his contract or there might be a chance
03:45to do a permanent deal when he'll have just one year left. But for the fanfare that he
03:54arrived with, the delivery, the results have been disappointing.