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Emre Can, himself a glorious footballing wizard on his day, expressed an admiration for his teammate Philippe Coutinho. The two young midfielders have played together for more than two seasons, ever since Can joined the team from Bayer Leverkusen in 2014. But even after all this time, Can admits that Coutinho continues to amaze him every day with his impressive abilities.
“For me, it is incredible what he does on the pitch. It is amazing and if you see on the training pitch and in the training sessions, he is not just a good footballer, he is a fighter, he wants to work for the team,” Can told Sky Sports.
“It's a big honour to play with him. He is a very, very good player and I have not seen a player like him in my career so far. In every training session I am thinking: ‘Wow!’”
Coutinho, our magical unicorn, not only beguiles with the ball at his feet, dancing around his adversaries and sliding in those pinpoint passes, but he has also managed to weave a spell over his opponents which makes them incapable of defending against his magnificent right foot. Even though it’s obvious enough to be seen from outer space that if Coutinho gets the ball anywhere near the opposing team’s 18-yard box with a little bit of room in front of him, he’ll cut in on the right and have a go— time after time we’ve seen defenders looking like they’ve been hit with a bit of petrificus totalus as they helplessly watch those bullets sail into the top corners of their own nets.
The Brazilian superstar-in-the-making has been crowned Liverpool’s player of the month for October, and his four goals in the league this season makes him the team’s joint top scorer along with Roberto Firmino, James Milner, and Sadio Mané (what a time to be alive). He’s also leading the assist chart with four already to his name.
About that core of attacking talent, Can was also complimentary, saying, “We have a very strong team and if you see us playing, the players we have attacking, Firmino, Coutinho, Lallana, Mané are all great players. I am enjoying playing with them and we are like friends on and off the pitch, which is important.”
Can, after missing out on the early part of the season through injury, notched his first goal last week in that bananas game against Crystal Palace. He’ll be looking to add to his tally on Sunday afternoon when Liverpool host Watford at Anfield for gameweek 11.