Club captain and Everton veteran Seamus Coleman continued his Toffees career into its thirteenth season during Everton’s 3-1 win over Southampton, and one key stat underlined his continued quality.
As shared on Twitter by football app CLUB (@clubgame_app), no player tackled more attempted dribblers than Seamus Coleman on the opening week of the 2021/22 Premier League season (5).
The Tweet then commented on his legacy and initial price tag for the club, stating “£60,000 and 13 seasons later. Still got it”.
In a further symptom of Coleman’s quality versus the Saints, he averaged a 7.14 WhoScored rating – just 0.06 below the 7.2 team average and the highest of any Everton defender on the pitch.
He also won two aerial duels, though the 32-year-old Ireland captain only managed a passing accuracy rate of 64.1%.
Regardless, Coleman’s contribution was robust and authoritative in a game that got off to a nervous start for Everton fans.
An error from Michael Keane allowed physical striker Che Adams to wrestle the ex-Burnley defender off the ball before Adams set up Adam Armstrong for a debut goal.
Efforts from Richarlison, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Dominic Calvert-Lewin completed a remarkable second-half turnaround for the Toffees.
Read Everton Verdict
The stat is a glowing endorsement of Coleman’s continued reliability at the highest level.
Everton fans will be hoping he can remain fit and sharp for much of the campaign as he looks to shore up Rafa Benitez’ back-line options.
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