Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard hails Philippe Coutinho for recapturing his best form

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard piled praise on loan star Philippe Coutinho, saying that the Brazilian player is ‘back to his Liverpool form’ from when they were team-mates.

Coutinho scored and provided an assist for Douglas Luiz as Villa thrashed Southampton 4-0 on Saturday.

That means Coutinho now has six goal contributions in the Premier League since joining Villa on loan in January, which is more than he managed in the whole of last season for Barcelona in LaLiga.

Steven Gerrard was full of praise for Philippe Coutinho after Aston Villa beat Southampton

Speaking to BBC Match of the Day, Gerrard said: ‘We’ve got Phil [Coutinho] back fit and in a really good place – he was back to his Liverpool form today and he was a touch above. The other players have got a lift from him.

‘It is about having players running in behind for him and Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings were untouchable at times today too. 

‘When Phil is in the mood he is a world class player. He probably finished my career a couple of years early, he’s the reason I’ve got screws in my knees and groins!’.

Coutinho scored and provided an assist as Aston Villa secured a 4-0 win against Southampton

Ollie Watkins, who was also on the scoresheet in the Villa Park rout, is relishing playing with Coutinho.

Watkins added that Coutinho is so good that sometimes he thinks ‘too quickly’, which makes it difficult for team-mates to keep up with him.

Watkins added to BBC Match of the Day: ‘Sometimes he thinks too quickly for you, so I have to go off his body movement and sometimes I’ve gone the opposite way. He’s too sharp – he thinks quicker than anyone else.

‘I can’t speak highly enough about him to be honest. It’s a joy to play with him, and Ingsy, and hopefully we can do this more often to teams.

Ollie Watkins is enjoying playing with Coutinho but jokes that the Brazilian is often ‘too sharp’

‘We’ve had a bit of a sticky spell but we’ve got to find some consistency and be hard to beat. We’ve got a lot of good technical players, so it is about doing the ugly side.’

If he continues to impress then it seems likely that Coutinho could join Villa on a permanent basis in the summer transfer window.

The 29-year-old had a difficult time at Barcelona since his £145m arrival from Liverpool but he is enjoying being back in the Premier League under the management of his former team-mate. 

Villa are currently in 11th place in the Premier League having taken 33 points from 26 games.