One problem Aston Villa have with Philippe Coutinho amid Brazilian’s fine start, according to this pundit

Former Aston Villa goalkeeper David James has named the one problem his former club have have with Philippe Coutinho.

Coutinho has proved quite the signing for Villa, with the Brazilian joining on loan from Barcelona until the end of the season.

The former Liverpool star failed to impress at Camp Nou following his big-money move in 2018, and he has been offered a fresh start in the Midlands, albeit temporarily.

Linking back up with former teammate Gerrard, Coutinho looks as though he has begun to enjoy his football again, scoring twice and assisting twice in four Premier League outings.

The signing has proved a key one as Villa look to continue to move away from the drop, now nine points clear.

But as the season progresses and the games begin to pile up, there is a problem with Coutinho that former England goalkeeper James is concerned about.

“I was looking at Coutinho versus Leeds United and there were moments in that game which were absolutely incredible,” he told GGRecon. “The set-up for Jacob Ramsey’s first goal was one of the best passes of the Premier League this season. It was just beautiful, effortless.

“It’s one of those paradoxes - how can this player play so well, and be on loan to Aston Villa. It’s kind of like, if he’s that good, he shouldn’t be there. I say that respectfully.

“The downside is that his fitness looks absolutely shot. He makes a couple of runs and then he looks tanked. The difficulty for Stevie G and Villa is that if they can sort his fitness out and get that level of play from a fitter player, then Coutinho’s price and desirability goes up.

“At the moment, you’re looking at Coutinho thinking, is he a 60-minute player or a 70-minute player. He’s not a 90-minute player. And Aston Villa at the moment require a 90-minute player.

“I think if Stevie can keep him playing well, that’s one thing, and if he can keep him happy to be playing for Aston Villa and he expresses a desire to stay with Stevie at Aston Villa then in the end, that would be - I would argue - more important.

“He obviously enjoyed his time in England with Liverpool and where Stevie’s going with Aston Villa he could try to be part of a success story at the club.

“At first I wasn’t sure about Coutinho at Villa - all the headlines were about Stevie recruiting an old teammate - but he looks happy.”

Villa are understood to have an option to buy in Coutinho’s loan deal, believed to be worth around £33million.

Gerrard won’t be thinking about activating that option just yet, but it’s so far, so good for the Brazilian.

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