Eriksen or Coutinho: who’s the better fit for Barcelona?

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FC Barcelona tried to sign Liverpool’s Coutinho in the summer and have now turned their eye to Tottenham’s Coutinho – but who suits them best?

The Blaugrana’s interest in Coutinho is long-standing, with their summer pursuit of him being loud, long unsuccessful, and Spanish outlet Don Balon have reported that Barcelona are plotting a January bid for Eriksen.

But which player suits Barcelona best?

The Role

The role that either of these men would fill would obviously be the one currently occupied by the declining Andrés Iniesta. The Spaniard is one of football’s all-time greats but Father Time comes for everyone and it came for Iniesta a year ago.

Now he offers only a shade of his genius, and certainly cannot carry the load for an entire season, especially now that Ernesto Valverde has switched to a hybrid 4-4-2/4-3-3 system.

Enter Coutinho and Eriksen. For those comparison we’ll be looking at their Premier League stats for Liverpool and Tottenham since the start of 2015/16 season.

Passing

When it comes to Barcelona, nothing is more important than passing. And here Eriksen has completed 43.9 passes per-game for Tottenham whilst in the same period Coutinho has only attempted 44.83 for Liverpool.

The Spurs man has made over 10 more touches per-game. He’s used to being more involved in games, and that would help him fit in nicely at possession-heavy Barcelona.

Moreover, Eriksen’s set-piece skill augments his creativity and allows him to create more chances, more big chances and get more assists than Coutinho.

Dribbling

A Barcelona attacking midfielder must be able to carry the ball. One of Iniesta’s great skills is that he can weave his way through tight spaces and unbalance opposing defences.

Here Coutinho ha a clear advantage to Eriksen. Per game the Liverpool man completes many more dribbles than Eriksen even attempts and is dispossessed at an only slightly greater ratio than the Dane.

Defending

A Barcelona midfielder must be able to defend for himself, otherwise he risks exposing the defence (which will be stationed high up the field) to all manner of pressure and danger.

Both men are schooled in the art of defending and pressing thanks to their coaches Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp, and there is little to separate them here although Eriksen does consistently put up better numbers thanks to Tottenham’s defensive consistency.

Goalscoring

When it comes to football, goals are ultimately the most impactful currency. And here the Liverpool man stands tall. Coutinho takes more shots a game than Eriksen, and although he hits the target less he does score more goals.

Since the start of 2015/16, Coutinho has scored 24 goals (0.38 per-game) with Eriksen bagging just 17 (0.2 per-game). If goals are what Barcelona want, despite Eriksen’s recent hat-trick, Coutinho is their man.

Conclusion

If we tally up the categories won then both men take 2 each, with Coutinho obviously the better scorer and dribbler. Meanwhile Eriksen is a superior passer and defender.

So who fits Barcelona better? Well, it has to be Christian Eriksen. The Tottenham man’s style of play and focus on possession and passing make him a perfect stylistic heir to Andrés Iniesta.