Philippe Coutinho was signed at a club record fee from Liverpool because Barcelona were convinced that out of every footballer alive, only he could replace Andrés Iniesta in the left side of their standard three-man midfield. So why is Coutinho playing as a winger, and a kid fresh from the Brazilian league playing in Iniesta’s old spot?
You might say that Arthur is just so good that you can’t leave him out, and Ousmane Dembélé is not consistent enough right now to usurp the Brazilian’s starting berth. Sure, there is an element of that. But there is also the question of whether Coutinho’s best position is as an interior in midfield or as part of the attack, or perhaps, neither one, really.