Steven Gerrard hailed Philippe Coutinho's dazzling cameo against Manchester United and revealed the Aston Villa debutant was never going to get more than 25 minutes.
Villa completed the signing of the Brazilian on loan from Barcelona this week but he was only fit enough for the bench against United and had to watch on as his new team went 2-0 behind thanks to two Bruno Fernandes goals.
When Fernandes scored the second Gerrard turned to Coutinho, bringing him on for Morgan Sanson with 22 minutes remaining, and the attacking midfielder created a goal for Jacob Ramsey before scoring the equaliser himself.
Gerrard changed his mind about who to bring off for Coutinho but said the 29-year-old was never going to play more than a cameo role against United.
“The plan for Phil was to always have a short cameo, either, 15, 20, 25 minutes. There was no plan to play more than 25 minutes," said Gerrard.
"We’ve got a full week into Everton so this time next week he’ll be in a better place. At 2-0 down we needed more invention on the pitch, the first idea was to take a forward off but at 2-0 I didn’t want to take any goals off the pitch.
“He’s a good player and I’m sure he’s got a lot of experience of the speed of this league and what it took last time. He’s trained ever so well for three days, we’ve analysed him and his data over three days and there are obviously signs we can get games into his fitness.
"It’s only a matter of time before he’s looking better and physically stronger. It shows today he's capable of being involved and contributing positive things to this club."
Coutinho has enjoyed a miserable time at Barcelona since leaving Liverpool in 2018, but he looked much more at home at Villa Park and he was embraced by the Holte End on his debut, a factor Gerrard didn't underplay.
“You can’t underestimate being happy going to work and enjoying your football and your teammates and the crowd, we all enjoy that," he said.
"He’s been full of energy, he’s smiling away, there’s still room for him to get fitter and stronger, but you’ve seen today he’s still got quality."
United were the better side for most of the first half and Gerrard revealed he had raised the volume at half-time having been disappointed with his side's display.
That got a reaction and Villa dominated after the break, despite conceding a second goal to Fernandes.
"We started the second half in a better place, we were more like ourselves, the second goal was a big blow," said Gerrard.
"We either felt sorry for ourselves and went under or continue to do the right things and keep believing. The second half performance was completely different, I had to say some things to the players at half-time and we were much better in the second half."
