Phillipe Coutinho
Phillipe Coutinho made a move to Liverpool in 2012 and since then he has had an influential impact for the Reds. He has now established himself as a key man for Jurgen Klopp and a man to mark for the rival teams. Coutinho has cemented his position in the Liverpool line-up and is an important figure at the center of the park.
Manager’s words
In one of the recent press conferences, Jurgen Klopp praised the Brazilian genius by saying,”Who doesn’t love Philippe Coutinho? Phil is a brilliant player and we don’t have to talk about his qualities. I’m not interested in what happened before. I have spoken to him, yes of course. But my job is to help him, not to say what he is not doing good. Sometimes you have to work really, really hard to make football look easy.”
Juan Mata
Juan Mata made a move to England in 2011 from Valencia to Chelsea and impressed everyone with his performances for the Blues. Chelsea were in dire need of a quality winger and Mata was the perfect man for them. In his 135 appearances, he managed to score 33 goals for Chelsea. Mata managed to grab eyeballs from big teams across Europe and after the arrival of Hazard and Oscar, a move from Stamford Bridge was almost certain. In the 2014 season, the Spaniard made a move to Man United and soon became a favorite at Old Trafford.
Who is better?
Coutinho is at the peak of his career right now having netted 24 goals from his 133 appearances for Liverpool. At the age of 23, he is expected to have a glorious career ahead of him. He also plays at varied positions with his prime position being at Center Attacking Midfield. But, since the arrival of Firmino and Jurgen Klopp, the tactics and formations demand Coutinho to play at the flanks in the midfield as well as play as a left winger sometimes. He has proved his versatility and has adopted very well under the Klopp regime at Anfield. In the current season, he has already scored 8 times across all competitions and some of them being in critical encounters. His passing accuracy is also 78% and has a shooting accuracy of 44% as per the stats.
Mata for United has also been a prominent figure in attack. With Wayne Rooney having troubles with injuries, Mata has been the one who provides assists and score goals when United needed them the most. In his 89 appearances for Man United, he managed to score 24 goals, 8 of them being in this season across all competitions. Mata has a better passing accuracy of 88% and also a better shooting accuracy. However, when it comes to assists, he lags behind Coutinho. His age is also another factor that makes him second best. He has struggled with injuries and there has been a dip in his form owing to the injuries. Also, he has not managed to impress under Van Gaal and there is always a question mark when it comes to his versatility and ability to play at varied positions.
