Jarrad Branthwaite spoke following Everton's 1-0 win over Ipswich Town at Hill Dickinson Stadium
Jarrad Branthwaite during the match between Everton and Ipswich Town at Hill Dickinson Stadium on September 19, 2026
Jarrad Branthwaite during the match between Everton and Ipswich Town at Hill Dickinson Stadium on September 19, 2026(Image: Jorge Horsted/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Jarrad Branthwaite believes the 1-0 triumph over Ipswich Town was the kind of game that Everton wouldn’t have held on to win last season but David Moyes’ men are now showing a greater determination to prove people wrong who have written them off.
Despite pocketing over £100million on deadline day with their most creative talent Iliman Ndiaye, last season’s top scorer Beto, Tim Iroegbunam and Nathan Patterson all sold, plus Adam Aznou loaned out, following the late collapse of the purchase of USA World Cup star Folarin Balogun from Monaco, the Blues were left with a first-team squad of 18 outfield players that contains just one striker, one left-back and one right-back.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has already gone on record as saying what he called “meltdowns” had “annoyed me a bit” and Branthwaite also believes assessments of the remaining squad have been harsh. Recalled to the England squad for the first time under Thomas Tuchel, the defender now goes away for the first international break of the season with the Blues undefeated after seven matches in all competitions.
The 24-year-old said: “The start to the season has been positive. The team is still unbeaten and I think if you said at the start of the season we’d be in the position we were in, we would have taken it, so we are over the moon.
“It was a tough game against Ipswich. They put us under lots of pressure and we knew that was going to happen.
“It was one of those ugly performances, and I think over the last couple of seasons, it was probably the kind of game where we’ve maybe crumbled and conceded. I think it shows a bit of a shift in mentality to get over the line and get the win.”
Asked what’s changed, Branthwaite replied: “It’s hard to say. I think last season, being in a new environment probably didn't help us as a team.
“I’ve only been on the pitch a few times, but when we were at Goodison, the atmosphere and things got over the line. I think this season you can feel the atmosphere and just a shift in mentality from the manager.
“Also, if you look at the way the transfer window went, the way we got written off as a group. [People were saying] ‘a small squad and not going to have the quality to compete,’ and I think that gave us a boost as a team to go and prove everyone wrong.”
Thierno Barry netted his fifth goal of the season against Ipswich Town and looked like he’d headed in a sixth until his second of the afternoon was ruled out for Brennan Johnson being adjudged to have been interfering with play when stood in an offside position.
Branthwaite believes that the Frenchman is getting his rewards for the effort he puts in at Finch Farm and said: “He’s always learning. He’s a top player.
“I think you can see he’s always in the positions to score. I see him every day, practising and practising to get better, so I’m very happy he got his goal today.
“Goals going in off every body part is a sign of a good striker and we’ll take them all.”