Evertonians know that Seamus Coleman is edging towards the end of his time at the top level of football.
Now 32 years old, the Irishman doesn’t possess the same thrust that made him one of the best attacking full-backs around in his pomp and as this season has shown, at this point in his career he’s beginning to pick up frequent injury niggles.
But recently, Coleman has shown that he still has something to offer the Goodison Park outfit during the team’s struggles on the pitch and under the dark cloud that’s hung over football this week off it.
Taking the former first, Coleman has returned from a chastening international break, where the Republic of Ireland were beaten 1-0 by Luxembourg in embarrassing fashion, with a fire in his belly.
In the two draws with Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion he was arguably Everton’s best player and while he only came off the bench in the 2-2 tie with Tottenham Hotspur, he made an instant impact in the second half, setting up Gylfi Sigurdsson brilliantly to put the Toffees 2-1 ahead.
What a finish! Sigurdsson haunts for former club for the second time as Everton take the lead to pile the pressure on Spurs.
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They are the kind of performances that indicate Coleman can be of use to Everton beyond this campaign. A new first-choice right-back looks set to be top of Carlo Ancelotti’s shopping list this summer, but the Irishman is more than capable of being a rotation option, especially if they do qualify for European football next season.
Coleman continues to develop as a leader off the pitch too and stirred emotions of Evertonians again this week when he followed the example of club CEO Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale and majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri in condemning the European Super League plans.
“Times like this make you so proud to be part of Everton because we are about the fans – and we always have been. We all understand football is a business but that’s only to a certain degree,” he said in a statement on the club website.
“Football is nothing without the fans and it never will be anything without the fans. Supporters showed owners at the top of these clubs how fans continue to be so important.”
Given he’s arguably Everton’s finest right-back of the Premier League era and hugely popular with supporters, it’ll be a sad day when Coleman does decide to call time with the Toffees or in football overall. But the last few weeks have suggested he may be a round for a little longer yet.