Former Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho included three Liverpool players in his all-time Premier League Brazilian five-a-side team and lifted the lid on what it’s like to play under Steven Gerrard.
Coutinho, who signed for Aston Villa on a permanent deal on Thursday for £17m after initially joining on loan in January, made 201 appearances for Liverpool between 2013-2018. He scored 54 goals for the club before a £142m move to Barcelona that never quite worked out. He has netted three goals and added four assists in 16 appearances since returning to England.
When asked for his all-time Premier League Brazilian five-a-side team, the playmaker included Alisson, Roberto Firmino and former Red Lucas Leiva. Thiago Silva and Willian were the other two members of Coutinho’s side but he was full of praise for the current and former Liverpool trio. “Alisson, he’s a great keeper,” Coutinho told the Premier League's YouTube channel .
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“Lucas was so good at everything and it was amazing to play with him. His mentality is so strong, he has great qualities and his passes are always breaking the lines. I played with Firmino and he’s great. I enjoyed playing with him. We would have a good connection [in this team] and in small spaces like with Futsal we could have some fun.”
Coutinho and Gerrard linked up superbly well when they played together. This resulted in Coutinho winning the Liverpool Players’ Player and Fans’ Player of the Season awards in both 2014/15 and 2015/16. The Brazilian outlined what it is like to play under Reds legend Gerrard and explained the similarities between the Aston Villa manager as a captain and a coach. Coutinho said: “His ambition is still the same - he wants to win the games, help us to be better on the pitch and day-by-day in training. As captain he was always talking to the players and he’s still the same. It’s just that he doesn't play anymore but his ambition is the same."
“It’s nice [to have the relationship]. I have always had big admiration for him. I think all the players here watched him play a lot with great qualities and everyone is here to work well and learn from him.”
