Deep in the bowels of Goodison Park on Wednesday evening, Sam Allardyce sat glowing. Not only had Everton just ended a seven-game winless run by beating in-form Leicester City 2-1, but he'd also seen one of the Blues' key figures return from injury in remarkable style. In front of the assembled media, the 63-year-old had the ideal platform to laud Seamus Coleman's first-team comeback following a 10-month layoff.
"I don't go this far normally but it was almost superhuman," said Allardyce. "I’ve never seen someone come back from 10 months out and perform for 90 minutes. I think the character of the man is a great example, particularly for the younger players at Everton Football Club."
What Allardyce and others inside Goodison Park had witnessed was a display that defied logic. Coleman, with just 60 minutes at Under-23 level the week previous, was simply not meant to perform to such a high standard so soon. Yet despite the odds overwhelmingly being stacked in his favour, the Killybegs man drove forward relentlessly for 90 minutes, propelling Everton to a much-needed victory together with the help right-sided partner Theo Walcott. Unlike the unused bicycle in the back garden that begins to rust over time, the 29-year-old had not allowed inactivity to have a negative impact.
Brilliant to see such a class player back...
(📹 @LivEchoEFC)
#EFC
The correlation between Coleman's return and Everton's resurgence against Leicester was stark. Short of the type of dynamism and leadership that the Ireland captain provides in abundance during the first half of the campaign- and indeed the final few months of 2016-17- the Blues had previously found themselves teetering on the brink of an unexpected relegation battle.
Unusually for a team full of international captains, Everton had nobody to drag them kicking and screaming to safety when the chips were down. Whereas before the injury, the Toffees had won six and drawn two of their last 10 games, afterwards just three victories were collected from the final nine matches of the season. In his absence, Everton had been limp, lifeless and lacking in backbone.
As such, a fully fit and firing Coleman was always likely to have a galvanising effect for Allardyce's men. The only surprise is that it came so soon after his return. “When you can sprint the last 80 yards in the 92nd minute with the ball, and opposition players, who have been playing every week can’t catch you up, it shows you the tremendous capacity for the game that he has," Allardyce told reporters on Wednesday. "And how pleased he was to be back.
“That shows his mental strength. Mentally he is is very, very strong. It’s great to have him back, but now we need to make sure we keep him fit and make sure we keep him in the team every match if we can.”
The problem for Everton is that they must manage their talisman carefully back to full health- and with Coleman rested for Saturday's match away to Arsenal, the Blues reverted back to their default position of the last 10 months. Humiliation at the Emirates showing that there's still a propensity to collapse alarmingly when the necessary pieces aren't in place. There were other factors at work, including a bizarre tactical change by Allardyce, but it was notable how Everton went from bold to meek over the space of four days.
Tactically, Coleman's thrust from right-back opens up space for others in blue and makes Allardyce's side an infinitely more difficult proposition to manage. Yet it is arguably his capacity to lead by example that is most crucial to his team. Debate over Everton's captaincy has long rumbled on, but with no outstanding candidates, the status quo has been preserved over the past season.
In a sport increasingly defined by short moments, it often takes one specific incident to crystallise what should always have been apparent. Coleman has long been Everton's leader in all but name, however, his decision to rush to the support of Ross Barkley in the Goodison derby of 2016 was his own particular watershed. While others stood off and allowed Liverpool players to surround both Barkley and the referee following a dangerous late tackle on Jordan Henderson, the right-back took matters into his own hands and diffused a situation that could otherwise have spiralled out of control. Recent comments about providing long-term injured teammate James McCarthy with a positive role model during his rehabilitation another case in point.
“It is probably going to give me the motivation to be as good as I can possibly be to show James that there is a way back from it," Coleman said. "Every day I go out, every week I go out, I am going to play the best I can so that he sees there is a way back. That is my motivation now. I have seen him and he will be back there is no doubt about that."
It is this level of leadership that Coleman will provide to an introverted Everton lineup, on top of his considerable attacking talents. If it wasn't already evident before the Leicester game, it's now clear that the Irishman is the lifeblood of the Blues at a time when they are otherwise struggling for identity. He is the one pointing the way forward in the face of adversity.
All being well on the injury front, Everton finally have their beating heart back.
