Yeh ridiculous money tbh. Coutinho for half that would be on the expensive side.
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Coutinho could go for Ā£100mil and James Rodriguez who is twice the player went on a two year loan and proved hard to shift.
Thatās football for you.
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The phrase āClub X is a selling clubā is right up there in my all time list of derisory football nonsense, alongside such gems as āClub X have a tradition of playing exciting, attacking footballā
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Ehhh, donāt get me wrong, that Madrid couldnāt get any kind of bid for James was one of the stranger things Iāve seen, but I think itās time that we start accepting that Coutinho is really good and stop disrespecting him. I donāt think thereās anything to support the statement that James is twice the player and tbh, given that Coutinho is more explosive physically, I think thereās a good chance heās the better player now, despite the fact I rate James quite highly.
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Iām not disrespecting anything nor did I say Coutinho wasnāt good.
James is IMO the superior player and by a distance, simple as that.
If you believe otherwise thatās all well and good.
Thatās because an english club are involved 
I actually think Countinho has much more potential than James. Heās a lot more explosive and definitely the most exciting out of the two right now. James has really disappointed me since his move to real. 2014/15 he carried a lot of momentum from the world cup and looked class at times, since then heās been rather stagnant imo. Bayer might be a better fit for him, so I guess I may change my mind after seeing what he can do there. He obviously has the potential.
On a personal level Countinho should move to BarƧa. Itās a step up and I think heās easily go to another level playing there.
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Easier to be the most āexcitingā when one Coutinho plays in the league you regularly follow and two he was playing regularly as a starter for Liverpool and James was on the periphery at Real. He had an excellent first season (that Countinho so far has failed to match) and Beneitz realised they could sacrifice the #10 in exchange for exerting more control in the middle and being far more balanced as a result.
Talk of being more explosive means what exactly, heās faster? If so itās not quite the case, although that could be said of Ćzil and KDB and he isnāt better than them either.
No #10 would get into their team right now as it needs the balance of three in the middle, Coutinho doesnāt have much more potential at all and quite honestly I find that notion laughable, youāre underestimating James greatly.
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He was hit and miss at Real, it started brightly but gradually got worse. Youāre right that he played a lot better under Ancelotti, so he may well improve playing under him at Bayern and in a new system that will probably get the best out of him. He should still take some of the blame for his dip in form (probably more off the pitch than on it), and his fortunes didnāt get any better when Benetiz left and Zidane found the system working better without him starting. Itās unfair to judge players on price tags, but James was not really worth the ā¬80m (?) that he cost Real.
Coutinho for me is more versatile, and if he moves to BarƧa I believe he can go to another level.
tbh Coutinho is a victim of the same thing most players in England are horribly subjected to.
An abundance of shite journalism and know nothing fans that refuse to acknowledge talent outside of their own team/interests.
How Ozil hasnt just gone ābollocks to this, Iām going back to Europeā is fucking beyond me.
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It wasnāt hit or miss at all, in the games he played he was crazy productive, he is the superior creator between him and Coutinho as well as a superior goal scorer. There were reportedly some off-fields issues but that didnāt bring down his performances on the pitch.
Countinho may be more versatile and more explosive depending on your definition but he isnāt a better player and I donāt see him becoming the better player either. James will re-establish himself at Bayen and demonstrate just how great of a player he is.
It means heās more explosive, and the benefits that has, I donāt think anyone really needs to define explosiveness for you, and I think you know it doesnāt mean āhe is fasterā. Later, both of them have loads of classā¦I was skeptical about Coutinho, but if you look at his statistics last season, he is undeniably a fine, fine player. James had a class season in 14/15 as the #10 in Ancelottiās system but he hasnāt really carried that over to any other positions, whereas Coutinho is, ahem, explosive enough to play on the left in a 4-3-3, and thus more versatile, while producing similar or better than James did in a better team from such a position. James will continue to have his technique and end product and quality, as class is permanent, but heās just not a particularly explosive player and thereās no doubt Iād prefer Coutinho to him, which is why the market for Coutinho is significantly biggerā¦Madrid did all they could to sell James and there were not many takers (likely because he is only really an impact player as a #10, and most teams are already full in that position or donāt use a #10).
I asked for the definition because in footballing terms it could mean a myriad of things, but yeah keep on with your insinuation that I was being obtuse or some other bullshit.
Who cares if heās more versatile, it doesnāt make him the better player. And this is Real, it doesnāt matter how good you are on the flanks you arenāt displacing Bale and Ronaldo so that argument is moot since it was never an option for James to play on on the left or right in a 4-3-3.
James is far form an āimpactā player, what kind of nonsense is that?
Except Bale was injured all last season basically, and Isco (rightfully) won out the battle for a spot as an extra, wide midfielder over James.
James has clearly fallen out with Zidane, I have little doubt heād be able to play in a 4-3-3. To call him an impact player is nonsensical.
I guess Isco, KDB and Ćzil are also more āexplosiveā than him too.
Please.
To call him an impact player is nonsensical? Iām confused.
KDB is, yes. Ćzil has a different level of intelligence which separates him from James, despite having less goals, though as a #10 thereās little between them and I said in 14/15 James and Ćzil were by far the best two #10s in the world, and well on Ćzilās form last season yeah, thereās probably still not much at all between him and James. Ćzil has the same problem, though, he is ineffective at this point in his career as a wide playmaker.
Isco is, like James, not particularly explosive or athletic, but heās a superior footballerā¦Isco is as pure a footballer as weāve seen since Cazorla, or the closest thing to an Iniesta type in modern football.
Isco too was on the border of falling out with Zidane too, for the same reasons as James, but was the better/more effective player, and thus didnāt. Basically Isco won the battle for a place, not the other way around, that Zidane had something against James and not Isco.
KDB isnāt more explosive at all sorry, KDB fits in with what you said about not being athletic to a tee.
The sample size is damn near zero to make judgements one how good James is in that formation and since players who arenāt explosive have done well out wide I donāt see it being an issue for James either.
When did Isco fall out with Zidane? I donāt recall, however, it was widely publicised about James.
Iām not going to compare him to others this is centred on him and Coutinho and I doubt itāll be long before he demonstrates his superiority yet again.
Isco was extremely close to asking for a move over the winter window, donāt forget. He was also caught by Spanish gossip (read: football) television making some comments to Morata on the bench about how little they played and to the effect of āwhat are we doing here?ā.
I certainly donāt agree about De Bruyne, he can escape defenders with a burst of pace, something you wonāt see from James. And heās effective on the right, has shown that for a while now.
Itās not just this season that James was relatively ineffective out wide, but the one before, tooā¦
We shall see, I expect youāll find that Coutinho is in fact the better player, as he was last season (and perhaps the season before; Iād have to look at the statistics).
I remember him being unhappy sure but not falling out with the coach.
As I said Coutinho was a regular with James on the periphery for the past two seasons so itās not an equal comparison, playing a similar amount of games I very much doubt Coutinho would be better or more productive.
Indeed I suppose weāll have to see and compare them this season, hopefully they both stay fit.
Luxury player versus team player with top end product. James is basically Fat Arshavin
Simples