Nick Ware

Sat 27 March 2021 11:53, UK

Seamus Coleman has been Mr Consistent for Everton ever since he made the switch from Sligo Rovers in 2009 but the years are starting to catch up with him.

He has spent the majority of his career as a marauding right-back raiding down the Goodison Park wing but at 32, his lung-bursting abilities are on the wane.

However, if there is one thing we know about the Irishman it is that he is a fighter and he will not be prepared to see his remaining years as a professional wind down without a battle.

A mixture of injury and preference has seen Coleman make just 10 Premier League starts this term [WhoScored] with a further six outings as a substitute. Central defender Mason Holgate often been selected in his place.

In the Blues’ last outing against Manchester City they both lined up next to each other with Holgate on the right of a back three and Coleman flanking him.

But could roles be reversed soon?

Coleman lined up in an unfamiliar back three for Ireland against Serbia on Wednesday as the Boys in Green were downed 3-2 in Belgrade.

Stephen Kenny’s side were on the backfoot for the majority of the game so their shape was not too dissimilar to what we see from Carlo Ancelotti’s Blues who often defend deep before springing counter-attacks through the likes of Richarlison.

But while Coleman showed some composure on the ball and brought his leadership skills to the backline there were a few signs to suggest that this is not a position he has nailed down nor one that should be considered by Ancelotti.

At Goodison News we have taken a closer inspection at his performance.

Take this first example below where he is actually in a fairly decent position to begin with.

He is ahead of the furthest forward attacker and that brings the possibility of catching him offside, though Dara O’Shea next to him ruins any possibility of that.

But he is close enough to help O’Shea out while being wide enough to shuttle any runs made into the channel.

The Serbia midfielder actually makes a terrific pass and there is not much that can be done about that but after this Ireland really needed some with a turn of foot to make the recovery run.

The Serbia forward wins the flick on from the aerial ball and that spells trouble.

You can see the distance between the Serbia forward and Coleman when he is about to take the strike on – the Everton captain was unable to get anywhere near and help O’Shea out due to his lack of lightning-quick pace these days.

This next example shows how he got caught in two minds and is probably reflective of his years spent at full-back that his natural tendency is to follow the back-post run.

If he does decide to get goal side and block the far post option then he needs to instruct O’Shea, also in shot, to cover the near post.

But really Coleman should be focusing on tracking the near post run as he is closer to the man circled just in front of the Ireland 18-yard box.

As you can see below when the Serbia midfield shapes to shoot (right-hand circle outside the box) there is a clear gap that has started to open near post. Had the pass been made there it could have been deadly.

As it was the pass was played to the far post and Serbia were a whisker away from scoring.

Coleman is pictured below firmly in between the two Serbia attackers but not in touching distance to either – he’s actually done very little to prevent a goal here and he was fortunate to get away with it.

This was perhaps a little naivety on the basis of not knowing the position as well as his partners might.

This is only a snapshot of Coleman’s night and this was surely a good learning experience for him, even at his ripe old age.

But we’ve seen enough to be left unconvinced by this experiment and it is not one we want carried to Everton.

His dwindling athleticism is an issue, that’s for sure, but moving him to a back three does not necessarily negate that problem, as shown in the examples above.

With the likes of Holgate and Ben Godfrey in particular we have younger, more dynamic players for that role and Ancelotti should not be tempted by his international switch of position.

In other Everton news, Ruud Gullit takes aim at Blues for wasting Dutch talent.