--- title: "Tactical Analysis of Coutinho putting Barkley on his a*se" canonical: "https://readliverpoolfc.com/articles/tactical-analysis-of-coutinho-putting-barkley-on-his/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Ste Hoare" section: "Articles" published: "2017-04-03T09:46:39Z" modified: "2018-05-03T15:38:49Z" --- # Tactical Analysis of Coutinho putting Barkley on his a\*se Watching the Reds win a derby game is great. Watching the Reds dominate Everton is great. Watching the Reds humiliate one of their supposed best players is great too. That’s what Philippe Coutinho did to Ross Barkley on Saturday. He **literally** put him on his arse. It was great. It was so great that it becomes the topic for my seventh Tactical Analysis piece of the season (click these links to see parts [one](https://readliverpoolfc.com/2016/10/04/tactical-analysis-lovren-smashing-stands/), [two](https://readliverpoolfc.com/2016/12/20/tactical-analysis-lovren-putting-lukaku-arse/), [three](https://readliverpoolfc.com/2017/01/01/tactical-analysis-man-city-fan-throwing-flare-pitch-injury-time/), [four](https://readliverpoolfc.com/2017/01/12/tactical-analysis-of-james-milner-trapping-the-ball-with-his-face/), [five](https://readliverpoolfc.com/2017/01/15/tactical-analysis-script-stars/) and [six](https://readliverpoolfc.com/2017/03/20/tactical-analysis-pep-guardiolas-coat/)). * * * **The Context** Liverpool are better than Everton. We all know that and they know that too, so it’s no surprise to see the Reds ahead in the derby. It’s becoming customary. Ross Barkley is one of Everton’s best players apparently, so to see him made a fool of in front of millions of fans watching all over the world, well, it’s dead funny, isn’t it? **The Build Up** Phil Coutinho picks the ball up and, as was customary for the whole game, there’s not an Everton player near him. Knowing how good Phil is, Barkley realises he better get close to him. He knows that if he lets him drive and shoot, he’ll probably score because Everton’s goalie is a statue, so he tries to close the Brazilian down. ![](https://cdn.readeverything.co/readliverpoolfc/2017/04/Screen-Shot-2017-04-03-at-10.33.59-1.png) **The Class** It’s a simple thing but Coutinho’s first touch is great. He opens up space for himself and moves the ball away from Barkley and towards Everton’s goal. It looks like it takes the Everton midfielder by surprise, which is fair enough, after all, he’s used to playing with lads who aren’t that good at footie. ![](https://cdn.readeverything.co/readliverpoolfc/2017/04/Screen-Shot-2017-04-03-at-10.26.38-1.png) **The Chase** Barkley sets off in pursuit. He tries to cut across Phil’s path as he wants no part of him getting a sight of goal again because his goalie is made of marble. ![](https://cdn.readeverything.co/readliverpoolfc/2017/04/Screen-Shot-2017-04-03-at-10.36.24-1.png) **The No-Look Turn** Not once does Coutinho even glance at Barkley, he knows what the England midfielder going to do, he probably knew it before Barkley did. He lets the Everton man run across his path, dips his shoulder and flicks the ball inside. Ross, like a cartoon character, tries to put the brakes on but has little success. ![](https://cdn.readeverything.co/readliverpoolfc/2017/04/Screen-Shot-2017-04-03-at-10.34.12-1.png) **The Aftermath** Barkley’s on his arse. It’s great. He’s so off-balance that he’s on his arse. That never happens. It’s amazing! In fact, he is so off-balance that he has to contort his body just to get up again, by which time Phil is miles away and the fans at Anfield and around the world are laughing their heads off. ![](https://cdn.readeverything.co/readliverpoolfc/2017/04/Screen-Shot-2017-04-03-at-10.34.30-1.png) **Conclusion** Liverpool fans are all made up. The Reds won, we have numerous things to laugh at and to celebrate and one of them is Everton’s Wavertree Diamond being put on his arse. It’s not all bad for Everton though, they’re getting a new ground and all our heads will apparently fall off once it’s built.