There’s a spot of “rebranding” going on here, with our former “On The Radar” articles that offered short-term player recommendations now being badged up as the new snappy and ingenious “Spot The Differential”.
It’s an easy concept, these regular articles will be delivered to you as we near the Gameweek deadline, in an attempt to identify those players who offer a potential short-term gain but who seem to have remained under the Fantasy radar. We start the series with a certain young starlet who first caught our eye back in pre-season, so much so that we looked his way in our “Breakout” piece prior to the season kick-off.
Seamus Coleman earned his first league start for Everton in last weekend’s 0-0 draw with Fulham, and after showing excellent Fantasy potential in the summer, Fantasy Managers will be hoping that his impressive performance at right midfield in that game is enough to earn him a sustained run in the side. As a potential Out Of Position (OOP) defender, and priced at just 4.4M in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, the young Irishman dubbed “Seamus Ramos” by his team-mates could start racking up the points for those choosing to invest early.
David Moyes’ biggest regret this summer must be Everton’s failure to sign a decent right sided midfield player. So far this season, Everton have played Leon Osman, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and even Jack Rodwell at right midfield, but none of them have given them the attacking threat Moyes desires. Since Landon Donovan returned to LA Galaxy in March, Everton have struggled to threaten down the right side and their reliance on Baines and Pienaar on the left is both predictable and easy to defend against. With Coleman running at defenders and stretching the play on the right in the Newcastle and Fulham games, however, Everton looked a lot more balanced. While admitting that his “Out of Position” (OoP) role is only a temporary one, Moyes was pleased with his performance and hinted that for the next few games at least, Coleman could earn more starts in midfield:
“We have been striving, as everybody knows, to find a solution down the right. We have had Billy and Ossie there, Victor can play there when he is fit and obviously we had Landon for a spell last year but that is something we’re looking to find a solution for. I don’t think Seamus will prove to be the ultimate answer but he may be a short-term fix right now and who knows, he may become a player who can play there”
While Everton’s form has been disappointing overall, defensively they have been very solid. With the exception of Man United, Everton have not let in more than one goal in a game all season. Their next six games are Bir LIV tot STO bla BOL; not the easiest but with three fairly straightforward home fixtures, it would be hard to discount an Everton defender on the basis of fixtures either.
A quick look over the Opta stats shows that Coleman has made 5 successful dribbles and 4 key passes, while attempting 13 crosses, despite only playing 175 minutes in total. This puts him on a par with Baines, Evra, Cole and even Gareth Bale when averaged out over the time spent on the pitch. His attacking credentials are undisputed then, and If he was guaranteed starts, then Coleman would surely be an essential pick. It is probably apt then, to look at the factors affecting his place in the team.
At the moment, he is competing with Bilyeletdinov and Osman for the right midfield spot, and although Coleman getting the nod against Fulham was mainly because Leon Osman is carrying a rib injury, Osman was still fit enough to play the last half hour, and tellingly when he did come on, Moyes chose to replace Cahill in centre midfield instead of Coleman. We can feel fairly confident that he will play there again this weekend then, but how long he will hold down a midfield role is anyone’s guess. Long term, it is his surging runs from full back that will earn him a regular place but with four players capable of playing at right back, Coleman must stay ahead of Everton stalwart Tony Hibbert, World cup finalist Johnny Heitinga, and club captain Phil Neville to become first choice full back. It’s difficult to see Moyes leave his captain on the bench if fit, so it is more likely that we will see a shuffle in formation, with Neville in centre midfield, and perhaps Heitinga finding a place in central defence.
All of this is of course, speculation, and injuries could change everything, but with Everton desperate for goals, the signs are definitely there that even with a fully fit squad, Coleman will not only earn a short term role at right midfield, but will eventually make the full back position his own. Unfortunately at the moment he is still a risk, but at just 4.4M in the FPL game he is a very inexpensive one. If he can hold down a place and reproduce the sort of points dished out to Baines in the second half of last season, then he could become a true bargain Fantasy prospect.
Coleman arrives as an option at a time when finding Defenders who can reliably return clean sheets looks a thankless task; cheap attacking threat is the way to go at the back and Coleman certainly offers that, making him a clear option as a short-term differential.
