Watch: Philippe Coutinho Dominates Spartak Moscow

I have been critical—and recently!—of Philippe Coutinho. During the first couple of months of this campaign, when the Brazilian international played for us, our results were largely disappointing.

However, Coutinho has not only continued contributing goals and assists at a pace that puts his past seasons to shame, the results too have followed suit. In the last two outings alone, Liverpool have hung 12 goals on our opponents, and Coutinho has contributed 4 goals and 2 assists.

When Liverpool fought keep The Little Magician out of Barcelona’s grasp this summer, the hope was that he would be pulling the strings from midfield for Mane and Salah to do their thing. In the last few games, we’re starting to see that hope come to fruition. Coutinho was involved, directly or indirectly, in nearly all of the offensive prowess in the last two games.

There will likely continue to be rumors surrounding Phil’s departure to Barcelona or PSG this winter (and into the summer), but it’s hard to see Liverpool letting him go at any price on current form. The offensive threat posed by the Fab Four will make the Reds a difficult draw for anyone in the Champions League knockout rounds.

In last night’s 7-0 trouncing of Spartak Moscow, Coutinho produced a highlight package that most players would struggle to put together over the course of a season. Enjoy: