The Everton defender discussed a day he will never forget, his revival under David Moyes, his move to full-back and the season so far
Jake O'Brien looks on during the Premier League match between Everton and West Ham United at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport/CameraSport via Getty Images
Jake O'Brien looks on during the Premier League match between Everton and West Ham United at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts - CameraSport/CameraSport via Getty Images
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Coffee and adrenaline, that was the secret, Jake O’Brien explains as he reflects on the biggest weekend of his life. Around 9am on the Saturday morning his partner Sophie Lawlorgave birth to their first child, Greyson.
By 4pm the next day, the towering defender had delivered a clean sheet in Everton’s victorious first game at the club’s stunning new stadium. It had been touch and go whether the 24-year-old would make it. Greyson was born in London and navigating the journey back was just one part of a thrilling new adventure in both his personal and professional life.
“It was hectic, yeah”, the Republic of Ireland international laughs as thinks back to late August. “I had no sleep and was here-there traveling and that was crazy, but it was all worth it in the end. Happily, he was born healthy and happy and we got back up and I got to the match as well and we won, so it was a really good weekend.”
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O’Brien had stayed in contact with the club as Sophie went into labour, exchanging messages with Blues head of football operations Jonathan Williams. He informed the club of his intention to play at around midday on August 23, having enjoyed the first few hours with his little one. He added: “They were always in the loop, so within a few hours I text him saying: ‘I'll be up in the night.’ I had no sleep, just coffee and adrenaline to get through it.”
O’Brien smiles when asked whether he had the iconic Bebeto baby-cradling celebration lined up had he scored the next day. It would not have been a surprise - the 6ft 6in colossus has made a habit of crashing the box and provided valuable goals against Brentford and West Ham United last season.
After joining from Lyon last year, he was made to wait for his career on Merseyside to launch. The chance came when David Moyes replaced Sean Dyche in January and quickly spotted his potential at right back.
Days before Moyes gave hom his first Premier League start, against Tottenham Hotspur, O’Brien told the ECHO of his determination to seize the opportunity the dugout change had presented to him.
He said: “I knew it wouldn’t be easy to play games, but I thought I would have played a lot more than I did. But I suppose it’s only been half a season and there is another half of the season to go and I think I could play my part in this half the season and start getting more game time. It’s been a frustrating six months, but I think the next half of the season is important for me to start getting games.”
His words were prescient - the match against Spurs became Everton’s first win of the second Moyes era and he became integral to a mean defence that was key to the Blues’ surge away from trouble.
Seven days on from the Tottenham success came the battling victory at Brighton that shifted the momentum at the club. One of his earliest tests at full-back therefore came against Kaoru Mitoma and the overlapping Tariq Lamptey but O’Brien proved capable of handling the talented pair.
He attributes his success at full-back to his pace and strength at one versus one defending. Another asset, he believes, is that tricky wingers tend to underestimate him. He said: “I've always been fast so I think that helps on the wing. I think people look at me with my size and think that it's going to be difficult for me, which at times it is, but there are things like my pace and power that help me.”
He is well aware he is not a natural right back but, while he remains a centre back at heart, he has worked hard to improve out wide and sought advice from club captain Seamus Coleman and assistant manager Leighton Baines on subjects like body shape.
Despite a summer overhaul in which Everton sought a specialist right back, O’Brien remains Moyes’ first choice out wide - an outcome he said he was prepared for through pre-season even as the manager gave chances to others in that position, including Nathan Patterson and Tyler Onyango.
He said: “I wasn't too surprised because I'd had a few conversations and I knew it was something that I might have to do… [I thought] if that's me playing on the right for the first couple of months then I'm fine with it.”
After an impressive start to this season, kickstarted by that second clean sheet and victory over a Brighton side armed with Mitoma on the left wing, the BLues are yet to win since the September international break, prompting frustration in some quarters after draws with Aston Villa and West Ham and defeats to Liverpool in the league and Wolves in the Carabao Cup.
While there is determination to get back to winning ways against Crystal Palace on Sunday, O’Brien said there is also an understanding the disappointment is a measure of how far a club that started the year in a relegation fight has come.
He said: “The last two weeks have been a bump in the road but it's nothing that will set us back and we'll put it behind us and go again. The club still feels very positive. And that we are looking at draws [against Aston Villa and West Ham] and them feeling like a bump in the road shows where we've come in a few months.
“We should have got wins but we just need to take away the parts of our game, see where we made the mistakes and learn from it and go again.”