The Leicester City centre-back has started the last three games after 18 months taking on the same task he did during international tournaments with the Three Lions
In five seasons between 2017 and 2022, Conor Coady missed just two league games. At Leicester City over the past 18 months, he hadn’t even started two league games in a row until these past few weeks.
For a player so accustomed to playing 90 minutes every weekend, Coady’s time at City will have been unusual. At great risk to his England career, he dropped down a league to join the club and still found himself watching from the substitutes bench most matches.
But handed his first start of the Premier League season by the interim coaching team, Coady has since played 90 minutes in new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first two games. Only a few weeks ago, a January departure was in the offing for Coady as he sought more regular game-time. The early signs are that he will now receive that at City, meaning a move next month is no longer necessary.
Coady has kept himself busy in the past 18 months, and not just with his regular BBC Radio 5 Live appearances. His lack of game-time with City saw him take on a role he’s more used to playing with England.
At both the Euros in 2021 and World Cup in 2022, he was selected in the Three Lions squad but did not play a single minute. Still, his presence was valued extremely highly, Coady’s relentless positivity and support for those around him helping to keep morale high.
It was not the job he signed up for at City, but it was one he diligently did anyway, especially during the difficult moments last season, when it seemed promotion might slip away. Now, he gets to bring those attributes to the pitch, and looks set to start alongside fellow experienced head Jannik Vestergaard again at Newcastle on Saturday.
“He’s a great character to have around,” van Nistelrooy said of Coady. “I found out in the week-and-a-half I’ve been here, the way he acted also in times that he didn’t play in the way he trained and the way he was there for the team.
“That says everything about him. He’s a great professional to have around. It’s important to get a good partnership going (at centre-back), a partnership that’s experienced and that leads.”
While Wout Faes and Caleb Okoli have been dropped to create space for Coady and Vestergaard, van Nistelrooy has been at pains to express how happy he is with his four-man centre-back group. He has a “luxury” of options, and it’s not the case that Coady is starting because he doesn’t rate the other defensive options in the squad.
“We also have very good options and different profiles with Wout and Caleb. Wout was very important in the games he came on. He fulfilled a very good role coming off the bench. Caleb, we know his potential and his qualities as well.
“With the four centre-backs we have, they’re all training well, they’re all great personalities and characters and it’s a great luxury to have to be able to choose depending on injuries, suspensions, tactics, or certain types of strikers of the opponent, what the game needs. It’s important that all four are there and highly motivated.
“We need all the players on board. We know what the Premier League is like. There will be many games coming over the Christmas and New Year period, the FA Cup is around the corner. We’re going to need all of the players to be ready to play.”
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