The international break is now firmly underway and Everton will be watching their players closely over the coming days.
On Thursday night, the first batch of players got their international duty underway with the likes of Jake O’Brien in action.
Jesper Lindstrom was praised for his performance for Denmark against Portugal in the Nations League.
Avoiding any injuries will be the main thing which David Moyes will be hoping for over the next week, with a huge April ahead of Everton.
The Toffees have a serious run of fixtures coming up over the next month having failed to win any of their last four games in the Premier League.
However, O’Brien’s performance for the Republic of Ireland on Thursday will have given Moyes some extra confidence.
Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images
Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images
O’Brien has really impressed at Everton under Moyes after an extremely difficult start to life on Merseyside with Sean Dyche.
The 23-year-old was not given the nod from the start on Thursday night when Ireland played Bulgaria in the Nations League.
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However, when he did come onto the pitch, the Irish media did provide him with glowing reviews.
Outlet Comment
RTE The 6’6″ Everton defender made himself a nuisance when attacking setpieces, then shored up the defence in the closing stages.
Balls Had little to do but posed a physical threat from set pieces.
O’Brien has played a considerable amount of football since January after being handed the opportunity by the 61-year-old manager.
Everton fans have loved what they have seen from O’Brien over recent months at Goodison Park.
The defender is beginning to show he is a real goal threat as well as a reliable defender having netted some late goals.
And Moyes will be loving the reviews coming out of Ireland.
David Moyes has not been happy with Everton’s set pieces
After being appointed, Moyes brought in Charlie Adam as Everton’s new set piece coach.
It would be fair to say the Scot has not been impressed with what he has seen so far from dead-ball situations.
“He is beginning to get a couple of goals and I’m moaning at Tarky and Jarrad to start getting more goals – but with our deliveries from set-pieces today [vs West Ham], there was no chance them they could score from them, they were so poor,” he said after the game on the weekend.
However, he has a real aerial threat with the Irish giant O’Brien.
James Tarkowski has praised O’Brien as a ‘monster’ and he can certainly establish himself as that from set pieces for the Toffees.