REPUBLIC of Ireland legend and former Irish manager John Giles has suggested that Seamus Coleman is ‘taking on too much’.
The Killybegs man’s dip in form has been a topic of conversation this week.
Speaking on Off The Ball last night, Giles took the side of the Irish captain.
“I think what happens with Seamus, with him being captain, I think he takes too much on himself,” Giles said.
“The main contribution you can make as captain is to play well yourself.
“And I think with Seamus, I think he knows we’re not playing well and he was getting the ball in the full-back positions a few times and in my opinion, he was trying to do what the midfield players weren’t doing.
“It’s not right but I can understand where he’s coming from. He’s such a good lad that he thinks, ‘I’ve got to get it going because I’m the captain’…
“Seamus does his own job. And he’s falling down a little bit because he’s trying to do other people’s jobs for them.”
Coleman was sent off in the second half of Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat to Switzerland in Geneva. With 14 minutes to go in the Euro 2020 qualifier, Coleman, who was already on a booking from the first half, received a second yellow card for a handball in the penalty area.
It follows a red card for Everton against Burnley at the beginning of the month.
Watch John Giles’ analysis, with host Nathan Murphy, below …
