Philippe Coutinho’s midfield magic could reinvigorate Brazil – if only Dunga lets him play

“He is a joy to work with and a joy to watch,” swooned the Liverpool manager after watching Philippe Coutinho dismantle Manchester City last weekend. “He is a kid who has so much ahead of him in the game. He is a sensational footballer.”

Anyone who has watched the Reds over the last couple of years would be hard pressed to disagree. Since his arrival at Anfield, Coutinho has beguiled – firstly only intermittently, a sideshow to Luis Suarez’s more explosive efforts, but increasingly as one of the leading lights of Rodgers’ side.

The flicks and tricks are still there, as are those trademark chipped mini-through balls and sumptuous scooped passes over defenders’ legs. But now Coutinho is beginning to assert himself more in the final third. “I have never been a prolific goalscorer but I’ve been working hard on my finishing,” he told GloboEsporte this week. The proof is there for all to see.

Coutinho’s talent has largely gone untapped at international level, however. True, he endured a frustrating couple of years after swapping hometown club Vasco da Gama for Internazionale, but it remains a damning indictment of the direction the Brazil team has taken that a player so gifted should only have five caps to his name.

(Even that figure is a touch misleading. The playmaker has only once started for the Seleção, in a money-spinning friendly against Iran all the way back in 2010.)

That could be about to change, however. Coutinho was brought back into the fold by Dunga in the wake of the 2014 World Cup debacle and has been an ever-present in the squad since. The next step – which could come against France or Chile later this month – is gatecrashing the starting XI.

In an ideal world, Coutinho’s place in the side would be just off Neymar in the kind of fluid, daring attacking set-up that Rodgers favours. But that tantalising possibility is almost certain to remain just that – for as long as Dunga is in the dugout, at least.

In his second spell as Brazil coach, the 1994 World Cup-winning captain has thus far favoured a rigid system with a flat four in midfield and Neymar paired with another striker (Diego Tardelli against Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina and Japan; Luiz Adriano against Turkey and Austria) up front.

In this regard, Dunga seems to share the concerns of his predecessor, Luiz Felipe Scolari, whose experimentation with a system with no out-and-out number nine was as brief as it was fruitless. You would think that the sight of Fred lumbering aimlessly around Brazil’s shiny World Cup stadiums for a month last summer would have prompted a rethink, but conservatism remains entrenched.

The best bet for Coutinho, then, is likely to be a role out wide. But he may find his way blocked by Chelsea pair Oscar and Willian, whose diligent running back and forth down the flanks is like catnip to their coach. Besides, Coutinho may be in a rich vein of form, but the common consensus is that he is not a natural wideman.

The Liverpool player, though, insists that his he has shown at club level that he is willing to adapt. “That’s the position I’ve been playing anyway,” he said on Thursday. “Last year [for Liverpool] I played free, through the centre. This season we’re using different tactics and I play slightly to the left.”

That flexibility should help the 22-year-old find a niche in the squad, even if the full realisation of his talent in the yellow jersey will have to wait. The hope must be that, in time, even someone as truculent as Dunga will realise that the future is far too bright for Coutinho to remain a bit-part player for long.