Christopher Beesley tackles a talking point from Everton's 2-2 draw at Hull City
Jarrad Branthwaite in action at Hull City (Photo by Lee Parker - CameraSport via Getty Images)
Jarrad Branthwaite in action at Hull City (Photo by Lee Parker - CameraSport via Getty Images)
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David Moyes can spot a good left-back, after all he brought Leighton Baines, Everton’s best player in the position of the Premier League era to Goodison Park, so question marks were raised when Jarrad Branthwaite was deployed there for the 2-2 draw at Hull City.
Who would have thought that the often much-maligned Vitalii Mykolenko would be deemed so important to the Blues. Only recruited because Rafael Benitez fell out with Lucas Digne, who was sold to Aston Villa and now subsequently turns out for Paris Saint-Germain, Mykolenko arrived on Merseyside on New Year’s Day 2022, little more than a fortnight before the former Kop Idol’s 200-day reign across Stanley Park came to an abrupt halt after a 2-1 defeat at bottom-of-the-table Norwich City.
Even greater trauma for Mykolenko followed as Russia invaded his native Ukraine the following month and his father, who had been due to fly out and watch Everton play, instead quit his job as a builder to enlist in the army and defend his homeland. Despite these challenges both on and off the pitch, the former Dynamo Kyiv player has turned out at least 34 times in each of his four full seasons so far at the club.
Having penned a new three-year contract in the summer, the 27-year-old featured in every minute of the Blues’ first seven matches so far this term, being named man-of-the-match in their goalless draw at Tottenham Hotspur. However, after winning his 55th cap in the 1-0 win away to Hungary on September 25, he subsequently missed Ukraine’s next three internationals with a muscle problem.
Moyes insisted Mykolenko had a chance of making it against Hull City, with the fact that the game took place on Sunday giving him an extra day to recover but ultimately when the teamsheet dropped at 12:45pm, he was not in the matchday squad. Michael Keane’s inclusion straight away also suggested it would be Branthwaite, not James Garner, who started last season at left-back and scored from that position in Everton’s 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in their first competitive fixture at Hill Dickinson Stadium, who would fill in.
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And so, he did. The Blues’ best player, whose commanding performances so far this term at the heart of the backline had earned him an England recall for the first time in over two years, was removed from his natural habitat.
The man dubbed by this correspondent as ‘The Carlisle Kaiser’ because of how his ability to carry the ball out from central defence with imperious assuredness, was instead to be deployed as Mykolenko’s understudy. That’s a big part of the problem, he’s seldom had any proper back-up since he joined.
In 2022/23, his first full season, the alternative was the lesser-spotted Ruben Vinagre. On loan from Sporting CP, after a 20-minute outing in the 1-0 home defeat to Chelsea on the opening day, he played just four more minutes for Everton in the Premier League and didn’t take to the field in the competition again after the 1-1 draw at Brentford on August 27.
He subsequently had a spell at Hull City himself, turning out 10 times in the Championship in 2023/24. Still only 27, the former Portugal Under-21 international is now plying his trade in Poland for Legia Warsaw.
After that, alternatives including the Blues’ oldest ever outfield player, the paradoxically named Ashley Young plus a smattering of square pegs in round holes, including the aforementioned Branthwaite and Garner. In my eyes – and those of many others – the latter seemed like the safer bet to plug the gap.
While he’s reigning Everton Player of the Season for displays largely in the engine room, which have also got him into the England team, even after selling Tim Iroegbunam to the Tigers on transfer deadline day, central midfield is the one area in the Blues’ lopsided squad that is well-stocked. But Garner remained in the middle of the park with Hayden Hackney on the bench where he was joined by Charly Alcaraz plus the fit-again Merlin Rohl and Christian Norgaard.
Branthwaite was game throughout in East Yorkshire, pushing forward on regular occasions and even putting a gilt-edged chance on a plate with a low cross for Thierno Barry, only for the striker to somehow allow the ball to go through his legs. However, this was far from a vintage display for a fish out of water who was clearly flapping.
Given that a succession of hamstring problems restricted the 24-year-old to just 10 appearances last season, bombing up and down the wing and overlapping – Jack Grealish in front of him is not one for regular sprints – was often heart in the mouth viewing and at times the man mountain appeared to be moving gingerly. More than once, Branthwaite was caught out of possession and nobody of an Evertonian persuasion will enjoy watching back that moment in which Oli McBurnie nutmegged him in the build-up to Hull’s first goal.
He’s helped his team out before in the past by accepting the role in the 1-1 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion on January 31, or the 1-0 home defeat to Manchester United on February 23, but after what was witnessed at Hull City, plenty of Blues don’t want to see their prize asset put out there again.
Moyes, a former centre-back himself, of course is the professional eye who sees Branthwaite in training every day to judge these calls and even Baines himself, who now serves as the Glaswegian gaffer’s first team coach, had to bide his time to wait for his chance following his £6million move from Wigan Athletic in 2007. Back then, it was another big centre-back in Joleon Lescott who the manager was selecting instead, but you can’t win them all and perhaps now the player who wears the number four jersey should stick to his central role?
Branthwaite is a Rolls-Royce of a defender who Everton will be desperate to keep out of the repair garage this season. You don’t go off-roading with such a luxury vehicle.
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