Column: The Laura Coombs Renaissance
Manchester City midfielder Laura Coombs has returned to the England squad after seven years at the age of 32. For someone who has always been at the top, why has it taken so long?
The career of Laura Coombs has been an odd one. At 32, she is probably enjoying one of the best seasons of her career, just at a point where it looked like she might never become a regular starter at the City Football Academy.
But the four permanent clubs she has represented in her career reads like a list a Ballon d’Or winner would be proud of. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City.
Coombs has done enough through various stages of her career to attract the interests of four top clubs, whether it be as a fledgling teenager at Arsenal, the young up and comer at Chelsea under Emma Hayes, the midfielder looking for minutes at Liverpool or the more experienced head ready to step back up a level in Manchester.
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She is 11th in the all-time charts for WSL appearances (157) and on top of that she has won all three domestic trophies during her career, yet has just the two England caps to show for it, both at the 2015 China Cup where she played a mere couple of minutes in both her appearances.
Now, seven years on, Coombs is a regular starter in the Manchester City team. Scoring goals, creating them, being nominated for player of the month awards, and now in the space of the week she has returned to the Lionesses squad for the first time under Sarina Wiegman and signed a new two-year deal at City for good measure.
As Wiegman herself alluded to during the week, Coombs can play both attacking and defensive midfield roles, so given her obvious quality at both ends of the pitch, why has it taken so long for the recognition to come?
Perhaps it was the reliance on the experience of Jill Scott, who was undoubtedly the go-to for a box-to-box midfielder for both Manchester City and England for many years.
When Nick Cushing wanted to sign Coombs from Liverpool in 2019, it was with an eye on Scott’s long-term replacement that he decided to make the move.
Cushing went to watch Coombs several times at Liverpool’s Prenton Park, a stone’s throw from Cushing’s former home in the north west, and was infected by her energetic, no-nonsense style of play in how she could influence games at both ends of the pitch.
On the face of it, the signing of another English player was quintessential City under Cushing, but this one was particularly calculated. Cushing was playing a 4-4-2 at the time with Georgia Stanway pushed high alongside Ellen White, with Caroline Weir and Keira Walsh in the midfield.
That energetic persona came across when Cushing met her to sort out the deal at the PFA’s offices in Manchester, as it did when her disappointment was evident as she was restricted to just four league appearances in her debut season due to the excellence of Walsh, Weir and Scott.
Go back 10 years and Coombs had made her debut for the all-conquering Arsenal in the Champions League at just 18. Hayes, who had worked with her in north London, gave her a regular home in her squad when both were at Chelsea, and Coombs become a trusted and much-valued squad player for several seasons before she went in search of more game time at Liverpool under Scott Rogers.
Coombs started just 13 league games in her first three seasons in Manchester combined. This season she has started 11, left only on the bench in one game so far.
Her four goals and three assists have seen people start to discuss her more and more when it comes to the national team, and with space for some depth in a much-needed area of the squad, Wiegman has taken notice and added her to an area where England lacked bodies.
“She’s done really well with Man City,” said the Lionesses head coach. “She has showed so much consistency with Man City and every time she has a very good contribution to the team she is in the midfield.
“She can play a little higher and a little deeper and I think we need a bit more of that in our midfield, so that is why we chose to pick her.”
Not to suggest Coombs hasn’t earned her opportunity, but she has broken into an area where there was a gap in the squad with only five regular midfielders selected, but sometimes that is all you need.
Coombs is a classic example of being rewarded for patience. For several seasons she sat behind Walsh, Weir, Scott and Stanway in the Man City midfield, before suddenly all four departed in one go last summer.
Replacing all that was no mean feat for Man City head coach Gareth Taylor, and it’s allowed Coombs to come to the fore by perhaps need rather than design, but you still have to take such an opportunity, and Coombs grabbed it from literally day one with an eye-catching performance at Villa Park back in August.
She also scored the critical equaliser just before Christmas in the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium, and Taylor offered an insight into Coombs’ importance to the team ahead of Saturday’s rematch with rivals Arsenal.
“I think it’s great for Laura, I think she really deserves this,” he said. “I think sometimes players can be overlooked in the national set up, especially when they’re doing really good things at the club. Laura’s had opportunity this year and before her recent illness cemented her place in the team and that’s hard to do when there’s high competition levels.
“She’s brought a lot to the team. She’s played to her strengths, she’s good at running beyond defences, her shooting ability is top class and she’s scoring goals.”
Taylor admitted Coombs has had to wait for her opportunity, but it’s that opportunity and patience which has allowed her to flourish and return to the England squad.
“Opportunity is the main one, but I think Laura has been someone who has always been in my mind for certain games and that’s down to her and obviously us believing in her as well.
“I think once Laura is in a place where she feels her confidence levels are good, there’s support around her and she’s feeling valued and she has a place in the team, I think that’s where you’ll see the best in anyone.”
Fair play to her, hopefully this means that the door isn't fully closed yet for others who are not quite in the reckoning for an international place, such as Hannah Blundell, or Millie Turner, despite both more than deserving their place.