Unai Emery believes Aston Villa's Philippe Coutinho can find top form again

Coutinho scored his first goal of the season in last weekend’s 4-2 defeat to Arsenal and has shown signs of recent improvement after something of a nightmare start to his first full season at Villa Park, following a £17.2million move from Barcelona.

The Brazil international is now four years removed from joining the Catalan giants for £142m from Liverpool but despite turning 30 last summer, Emery believes he can still recapture the form which made him one of the world’s most expensive players.

“Firstly it’s about what he wants and he wants to be committed, he wants help to show his skills and his quality, said the boss.

“He is training very well and for me he is one of the best once he’s up to speed. Of course he is a special player because of his amazing past, playing for Liverpool, playing for the Brazil national team, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

“Now he is 30-years-old but that is not too old to try and reproduce his best performances.”

Coutinho scored four times in his first eight appearances after initially joining Villa on loan in January last year but had netted only once more before breaking his duck for the current campaign against the Gunners.

Emery believes he has the talent to unlock opposition defences from the No.10 position, though his renaissance may have to wait, with Coutinho battling a muscle injury in order to face Everton at Goodison Park this afternoon. Asked if he had needed to raise the playmakers spirits during a rough first half of the season, the boss replied: “Players like him are very experienced.

“He knows when he is playing well, he knows when he is not playing well.

“He knows when people demand more of him and he has to adapt and accept the criticism and remain strong mentally.

“He has to perform to the best of his ability to help the team.

“I think he is happy with his teammates and he is happy here at Aston Villa.

“Of course we are going to test him because we are very demanding in terms of performance.

“And Philippe is the same as any other player in that respect.”