Though he might not be ready to leap into the starting lineup against Schalke this weekend, Philippe Coutinho is settling in well at Bayern Munich. He’s got a few training sessions under his belt with Niko Kovac and the rest of the squad, but he’s still not quite ready to start after an extended holiday for his involvement with Brazil in the Copa America this summer.
Coutinho is the 13th Brazilian to wear a Bayern jersey, and he received some helpful, friendly advice from fellow Brazilian Rafinha, who left Bayern at the end of last season to return to Brazil. The veteran defender gave Coutinho three important, friendly pieces of advice to help make his time at Bayern and Munich as best as it can be (via SportBild):
Dress warmly in winter! Learn to say “Mia san mia.” And buy yourself a good pair of lederhosen.
Coutinho, of course, might already be used to colder, rainier weather from his time in England playing for Liverpool. As for lederhosen, we have only Bleacher Report’s fanciful interpretation of what he might look like. We’ll go ahead and assume he’ll really enjoy a good Paulaner Oktoberfest Wiesnbier once he samples one at the team’s annual Oktoberfest outing:
Philippe Coutinho’s loan move from Barcelona to Bayern Munich has been agreed, per @rac1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 16, 2019
(h/t @brfootball) pic.twitter.com/whJo78lHOw
All jokes aside, Rafinha truly feels that Coutinho will strengthen Bayern and bolster their fortunes in the Champions League with all of the experience he brings to the table:
The Champions League is a very difficult competition. There are many top teams in Europe. It’s certain that the team is now closer to it with Coutinho.
Rafinha also feels that his compatriot fills a void left behind when James Rodriguez left the club at the end of last season. The Colombian possesses a similar, creative playing style to Coutinho, but had fallen out of favor with Kovac and it was time for him to move on. Rafinha feels that Coutinho is just what Bayern needed:
With James’ out Bayern needed a top star in the midfield. Coutinho is a magnificent player! He hopefully will quickly get used to the Bundesliga.