Michael Ball tackles all the big issues at Hill Dickinson Stadium following Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite's new injury blow
Jarrad Branthwaite's injury setback is a significant blow for both Everton and the player himself.Jarrad will want to get on top of this for the sake of his career and to stop it from happening in the future. In the meantime, it’s really frustrating because we want to see our best defender back playing.Although I think the backline have done a decent job without Jarrad, for any team in the Premier League, having a centre-half of that kind of presence and quality, you are going to miss him. We were looking forward to getting him back but while it’s disappointing for David Moyes and the fans, it’s even more so for the player himself. The medical staff will have been working really hard to get him back into the starting line-up, but it’s a very difficult situation with that type of injury. You can do everything by the book at Finch Farm, medical-wise, strengthening-wise, go through all the tests and the scans are looking good, but you never know until push comes to shove and you get back in training and you’re playing catch-up with those around you who have had a full pre-season and are sharper and faster than you.
Author avatar
Author avatar
You’re trying to impress Moyes and the coaching staff that you’re ready and you want to wear the shirt but during that strengthening in recent days, Jarrad could have reached levels he hasn’t been at for a while. Your mind might be fine, your heart might be fine, and your breathing might be fine, but your muscles are tiring and that’s when the weakness can come and bite you.While it’s never good news, it’s probably better it happened away from a game situation, where Jarrad might have been tempted to try and play on and not let his team-mates down. It’s a concerning issue, but with the size and power of Jarrad, when he opens those legs it is going to put a lot of strain in that area.As a young player who has already suffered these kind of injuries several times now, I’m sure the medical staff will be trying to leave no stone left unturned over why this keeps occurring. If he’s able to reach the levels that he showed last year then Jarrad could have a World Cup to look forward to but the more of this season that he misses, that becomes an increasingly distant proposition for him to impress in front of Thomas Tuchel’s eyes. He’ll have been full of joy at signing his new five-year contract at the club and is very settled.Both James Tarkowski and Jordan Pickford have followed him in penning new deals this month and that provides a core of key players who have signed on the dotted line to commit themselves for the future at Everton. Jarrad wants to be a part of that and the prospect of being part of this new-look Moyes side is a target to work towards and I’m sure he’ll be getting the best player care possible.