Matt Maher: Steven Gerrard has big call to make over Philippe Coutinho

The Brazilian playmaker is still to score or even create a goal this season and it has reached the point where his ineffectiveness is beginning to damage the manager’s prospects of remaining in post.

Gerrard is correct to claim Coutinho is not the only member of Villa’s forward line lacking form yet, rightly or wrongly, he has become symbolic of an attack currently delivering far less than the sum of its parts.

His performance in Monday’s 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest was arguably his most disappointing of the season so far and the post-match assertion from pundit Jamie Carragher he looked “miles off it” was uncompromising yet fair.

The difficulty for Gerrard is he has placed so much trust in Coutinho, his sole attacking signing as Villa boss and one he very much pushed to make permanent after initially convincing the playmaker to join on loan from Barcelona in January.

It was Gerrard who was adamant he could help his former Liverpool team-mate rekindle the form which once saw him move for £142million. To be fair, there were just about enough glimpses of the old magic during the second half of last season to suggest he was right. Signing Coutinho permanently for £17.2m did not look a bad piece of business.

It could still prove shrewd. Three months is nowhere near enough time to judge a player who agreed a four-year contract. The trouble for Gerrard, should he keep faith with Coutinho, will be he needs him to come good in the next three matches.

Coutinho has featured in all nine of Villa’s Premier League games so far, starting six. Though Emi Buendia’s form could hardly be called scintillating, the Argentine has undoubtedly looked the better of the pair and could claim to have been underused.

The question for Gerrard, ahead of what feels a critical week, is whether to keep backing Coutinho or take him out of the firing line? It is a decision which may come to define his tenure as Villa manager.