Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny has provided a strong response to recent criticism levelled at Everton defender Seamus Coleman by pundits, including Jamie Carragher.
Recently a number of Blues players have been put under the microscope to varying extents as the club have continued to slip down the Premier League table. They remain in 17th place as things stand at the time of writing, four points ahead of Burnley, following a rousing performance and result against Manchester United at the weekend.
L:ast month, Everton played out a disappointing 5-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur away from home in a match broadcast live on Sky Sports. At the time Carragher, who was providing punditry in the studio, branded the Blues back line as Championship-level, before crticising how often Coleman is beaten by a run in behind.
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Kenny, however, doesn't believe the comments were fair. The defender's international manager stood up for the Blues star, highlighting his positive form in the build-up to that singular poor performance and explaining a potential reason why he was below-par for that game.
He said [via Balls.ie ]: "I thought Seamus actually was in really good form when Frank Lampard came in first, and then just to have a bad game that was live on TV, he obviously got a lot of criticism and people then believed that’s how he’s been playing for six or eight weeks when he hadn’t, he’d actually been playing very well up to that.
"So he got criticism, but the issue with Seamus is not that he’s not at the level. He is at the level, it’s just sometimes he’s put himself out there when he’s not been 100 per cent, putting the team first, and he’s not one to speak up, it’s ‘if you want me out there and the physio says I’m right, I’ll play’, so he’s come back very quickly from injury and probably when he wasn’t right.
"And I’ve seen him in some matches when he knew he wasn’t right. He’s so selfless that way."
