Gary Neville: This struggling Liverpool player back to his best now
The Manchester United legend was impressed with Philippe Coutinho's performance in Liverpool's 3-1 win against Everton on Saturday
Gary Neville believes Liverpool’s 3-1 win against Everton saw the return of Philippe Coutinho to his best form.
The Brazil international has struggled to find his feet in the Liverpool side since recovering from a troublesome ankle problem earlier this year.
Indeed, Coutinho started the season in devastating style as he exposed opposition defences with his eye for a pass and his Brazilian trickery.
And the former Inter Milan midfielder appeared to be nearing his top level during the Merseyside derby in the absence of Liverpool’s Adam Lallana.
Coutinho restored Liverpool’s lead after Matthew Pennington had cancelled out Sadio Mane’s first-half opener at Anfield before Divock Origi sealed the win.
Speaking to Sky Sports about Coutinho’s performance against Ronald Koeman’s disappointing Everton side, Neville said:
“”Coutinho has been struggling for form in the last couple of months but was back to his best.
“That partly was contributed to by Everton’s lack of attention where he played.
“Liverpool weren’t at their best. I didn’t expect them to be without Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana…but Everton played right into their hands and weren’t set up to nullify Liverpool’s strengths.”
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Liverpool are six points clear of Manchester United in the race to secure a place in next season’s Champions League competition.
Coutinho was signed in a deal from Serie A giants Inter Milan under Jurgen Klopp’s successor Brendan Rodgers back in 2013.
