da dobrowin： This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
da aviator aposta： When Everton caretaker manager Duncan Ferguson said last week that he hoped to have defender Seamus Coleman back in contention for the clash against Manchester United on Sunday, it’s fair to say some Toffees fans weren’t impressed and took to Twitter to slam the 31-year-old.
One individual described him as a “tea boy”, while others suggested he should be left on the training ground rather than being involved on a matchday.
The Republic of Ireland international’s game time has been limited in recent months because of injury issues, with his last outing coming in the home defeat by Norwich City last month.
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He probably wouldn’t have started at Old Trafford this weekend either had Djibril Sidibe not been ruled out through illness ahead of the short trip east on Sunday, given the Frenchman had provided three assists in his previous five Premier League appearances.
However, with the Monaco loanee absent it meant that Coleman came straight back into the starting XI and captained the Merseyside outfit against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men, and he certainly didn’t let anyone down on this occasion.
The right-back has been criticised by the Goodison Park faithful this term for some of his performances, but he stepped up to the plate well against an attacker in Marcus Rashford who had caused Manchester City all sorts of problems just a week earlier.
The Irishman, rated at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, made five tackles – more than any of his Everton teammates on the day – as well as one clearance and two interceptions as per WhoScored – only Tom Davies could better him with the latter.
Coleman also blocked one shot and was largely successful with his long-ball distribution which needed to be on point to relieve the pressure on Ferguson’s men – he completed three of the five he attempted.
The 31-year-old may not be able to get up and down the pitch like he once used to for Everton, but this was a clear sign that he can still do a brilliant job – especially defensively – for the club at this level, and he proved those supporters who doubted him last week completely wrong.
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Sidibe was really impressing prior to illness, but on this display he faces an almighty task to oust his teammate from the starting XI now.
For Ferguson or any other potential incoming manager at Goodison, they may well now have a huge selection headache on their hands.
In other Everton news, The Athletic have dropped a bombshell about the Toffees & Moise Kean in the aftermath of Sunday’s controversy…