ONE of the surest ways to endear yourself to supporters after signing for a new club is to score a goal and Sebastian Coates’ spectacular scissors kick against QPR will live long in the memory for Liverpool fans. If you haven’t seen it already, it’s well worth a watch on YouTube. Coates made only his fourth league appearance for Liverpool on Wednesday night and his ninth appearance for the club overall; his sublime volley to open the scoring was the Uruguayan centre-back’s first significant contribution as a Liverpool player since signing for the Reds last summer.
Coates came to Anfield with a big reputation in August, having won the Copa America with Uruguay one month earlier. He earned his first Uruguay cap just a week before the tournament started, but injuries presented Coates with a first-team opportunity. Seb well and truly seized his chance and went on to be named Young Player of the Tournament, having already been awarded the Uruguayan Championship Player of the Season and Defender of the Season accolades in a title-winning season for Nacional. A host of European clubs were rumoured to be interested in Coates after the Copa America – alongside Liverpool, Man City, PSG and Atletico Madrid were all linked with the player, making his £7m transfer to Anfield something of a coup. His transfer fee is much smaller than the sums dished out for Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing, meaning there is less pressure on Coates to succeed.
Kenny Dalglish is no doubt wary of giving Coates time to adapt to Premier League football, which perhaps explains why the 21 year old has made so few appearances for the Liverpool first team this season. Coates may be behind Agger, Skrtel and Carragher in the pecking order but Dalglish has still praised the Uruguayan on numerous occasions, expressing delight at how quickly Coates has settled to life on Merseyside and predicting that he’ll have a long career at Anfield. Seb has a big reputation in Uruguay too; he has been nicknamed “Luganito” by Uruguayan fans, who see him as the natural successor to fellow centre-back and current Uruguay captain Diego Lugano. Lugano has also expressed his belief that Coates will be an important player for Uruguay and has predicted that Seb will one day captain his country.
Before signing for Liverpool, Coates was an important player for Nacional; after making his senior debut against Bella Vista in 2009, he started every single game for the club, withstanding suspensions and international duty. He has shown great promise and having already had a taste of glory with Nacional and the Uruguay national team, Coates will be determined to taste more glory at Anfield. Let’s hope his brilliant goal against QPR isn’t his last for Liverpool and that Seb develops into a player that can become the heart of Liverpool’s defence.
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Whopper goal. Shame it wasn’t in a victory. Can’t imagine many English defenders doing that tho!
Well after that blinder I suppose it is back to the obscurity of the Academy and reserves for him until about November next season! It is almost guaranteed that he won’t play again this season….
Brilliant goal, nice composure. Hopefully now that the seasons result, except for FA Cup, is settled we will see more youngsters getting games.
if only kk could see it that carra is done coates is better now to be above carra.
Its important to play coates now as and would adopt to life @ merseyside than play carra after bad defending aganist qpr. I call for coates make him a legend now. With agger being first choice with skatel next season Carra will be no more coates will be called up. With Agger injuries Coates will be called more next season i think he has showed every sign of being a ko hero. Kenny dalglish tactics are a bit odd
Poor fellow will probably sit on the bench for about eight years!