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Jarrad Branthwaite claims vindicated as two Everton players see immediate benefit
Following this corresponding fixture at the London Stadium last season, Everton manager Sean Dyche described centre-back pair Jarrad Branthwaite and James Tarkowski as immense and with the former returning to the starting line-up for only the second time this season against West Ham United, the Blues’ most valuable player showed just what they’ve been missing without him this term.
For all that Michael Keane is a model pro and a highly valued and experienced squad member – both on and off the pitch – who has overcome some early jitters this campaign to produce several dominant displays in the Carlisle Kaiser’s absence, including his masterclass at Portman Road when he found the net with a filthy finish on his left foot and dominated Ipswich Town at both ends of the field, Branthwaite has emerged as a potentially generational talent.
Even the thinking man’s footballer, former Everton winger Pat Nevin, a pundit not prone to wild hyperbole, this week hailed the 22-year-old as being the best young centre-half in European football and a talent so exciting in the position, he hadn’t felt that way about anyone else since Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was turning out for the Glaswegian’s boyhood club Celtic.
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Many were shocked when Sean Dyche kept Branthwaite on the bench at St Mary’s until the Blues were 1-0 down in the latter stages, but here he oozed quality from the start.
The key to Branthwaite being so highly rated is that he combines his immense physicality as a man mountain at the back with an increasing ability to read the game and a deftness of touch for such a big man and we saw that here in the way he carried the ball out in an assured manner, moving out of defence and into midfield.
He also calms those around him and Vitalii Mykolenko who was all at sea on the Hampshire coast just seven days earlier was more like his much-improved self from last season while with his imposing partner back beside him, the Tarkowski ‘I’m the hardest man on the pitch’ challenges that have left us wincing in recent weeks were also not required.
