GOLDEN COLE
Ireland skipper is back to his best form And it’s great news for Mick McCarthy
AS MICK McCARTHY tried to maintain the brittle sense of optimism about Irish soccer’s future on Sunday, one very good reason emerged for trusting in better days to come.
It was not contained in the vagaries of the Euro 2020 qualifying draw in Dublin’s Convention Centre, but could be found, instead, hundreds of miles away in the city of Liverpool.
It is referred to by the sentimental as Ireland’s second capital, and the history of vigorous emigration from here to there found expression for many years in support for Liverpool and Everton, and in the number of Irish players who played for the two clubs.
That relationship is one more thing to suffer in the rampantly globalised world of modern professional soccer, but Seamus Coleman provided a link to more bountiful times for Irish players in England at Anfield.
His performance befitted those days, too, as he helped marshal one of the most gifted attacks in Europe while inspiring an offensive performance from his team that suggested the gaps between Merseyside’s two old foes has narrowed since last season.
It completed a return to form that has been apparent in recent weeks, and comes after a slow start to the new campaign that drew criticism from some within the Everton support.
When he scored his first goal in almost two years against Brighton last month, the gusto with which he celebrated was taken as a tart response to those who had doubted him. That wasn’t so, Coleman said at the time, and the competency of his effort against Liverpool illustrated that there was more to come.
And that should be greeted with acclaim by McCarthy, because more than any draw or motivation ahead of the start of qualifying next March, a Coleman in form is precisely what the new Ireland manager will rely upon to improve his team.
Coleman is the only current Irish player who looks as if he could perform comfortably in the Champions League, and his value to the national team was summed up by Martin O’Neill in October.
O’Neill was reacting to the news that Coleman would not be fit for the Nations League match against Wales.
‘It’s a massive blow, it really is,’ he said at the time. ‘He’s such a big player for us and he’s truly world class.
‘We cannot afford to lose these players and he was a major loss in the World Cup qualifiers. It’s a blow but we have to overcome it.’
Ireland couldn’t manage that, of course, and the reasons were more extensive than the absence of Coleman.
O’Neill was nonetheless justified in regretting having to do without a man who, if not obviously world class, is certainly the Irish player closest to it.
His place in McCarthy’s side will be one certainty, as should his retention of the captaincy.
Difficult as it is to imagine him roaring until his neck veins bulge, the best leadership is increasingly more nuanced than that, as Jose Mourinho is inadvertently proving week after week.
And as a figure to lead by example, Coleman has no peers among his international team-mates.
He has also been trusted with the Everton captaincy by Marco Silva, as club captain Phil Jagielka and vice-captain Leighton Baines are out of the first team.
Given the form of the team and the quality of the defence Silva has finally put together, neither looks likely to re-emerge, meaning Coleman could spend the season leading club and country.
The responsibility will hardly rattle him; the ability to look unfazed while tempers blister around him is a consistent quality.
It was visible again on Sunday, as Richarlison threw shapes at Andy Robertson after the Liver- pool left-back pushed him aside in retrieving the ball for a throw-in. Coleman was measured and sensible as anger triggered around him. Better again was the quality of his actual play when confronting Sadio Mane, Liverpool’s best forward in the game.
The highlight came in a marvellous piece of tracking by Coleman in the second half. Liverpool were counter-attacking at speed and when the ball was squared for Mane, Coleman slid in and prevented what would have been a point-blank shot on goal.
That cameo also showed that his pace, which was such an important part of his game before the wretched leg break he suffered against the Welsh in March 2017, and which kept him out injured for 10 months, remains a big asset he can draw upon.
Even if the evening ended in burning regret for Everton given the ridiculous nature of Liverpool’s winning goal in injury time, Coleman was a distinct positive point for Silva and Everton. The measure of the man was captured before kick-off when Jurgen Klopp praised him in comments in the match programme, for ‘the solidarity he has shown in supporting Sean Cox’.
Coleman donated to the fundraising appeal for the Meath resident who suffered catastrophic injuries when assaulted before Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final against Roma in April. Coleman’s actions ‘in looking to help the Cox family demonstrates what the best qualities of the (Liverpool-Everton) rivalry are’, wrote Klopp.
The quality he produced over the 90 minutes that followed should hearten Mick McCarthy. In Matt Doherty, the Ireland manager will also be able to call upon one of the in-form right backs in the Premier League.
Accommodating him and Coleman will be a puzzler. But Coleman remains indispensable. That is beyond doubt.