adminUnder-pressure Everton man is stepping up on the pitch and behind the scenes in critical year
These are nights where I should be helping the team a little bit more with either a goal, my creativity from set-pieces or open play. I need to start putting it in the back of the net.”
In fairness to James Garner, his inability to pull Everton back into the Carabao Cup defeat to Wolves was not for the want of trying. A player whose primary role at Molineux was to provide the solid foundation upon which those in front of him could attack came closer than anyone in Royal Blue to providing the breakthrough, his wicked free-kick leaving Sam Johnstone rooted to the spot as it cannoned off the crossbar.
Minutes later, the home keeper scrambled across goal to push away another Garner effort from outside the box and that was about as close as the Blues got.
If it looked as though the England Under-21 international was trying to step up when it counted on the pitch, he continued that effort after the final whistle ended Everton’s best hopes of silverware in the first season in years the club had the quality and freedom to dream of a cup run.
Disappointment swelled in the near-3,000 strong away end and frustration seethed online at what felt like a missed opportunity against a team bereft of confidence and perhaps just one bad week from a full-blown crisis.
The Everton dressing room would have been aware of that. No-one wanted to lose to Wolves, no-one wanted the bubble of positivity to pop so violently.
And yet there was Garner, leaving the safety of his team’s inner sanctum and stepping into the tunnel to face the music. He could have taken the easy option. Instead he took questions from the media, on behalf of supporters.
He deserves credit for doing so. He also deserves credit for the quality of his answers – he did not shy away from personal or collective responsibility, even if this was a loss that was not his fault.
“I’m quite a natural leader anyway with the way I am and I’m very vocal”, he told the ECHO, adding: “I tried my best to try and lead in the way I played and I was hoping that the lads would come with me and follow suit.
“Not all of us were at the races, so that’s something that we need to work on, especially when lads who haven’t had much game time this season are coming on and starting. We need to be 100% ready to go… I think any tournament or cup you enter, you want to go as far as you can so to go out now, playing against a team who we probably thought we’re in a better place than at the moment form-wise, and going in the right direction, so to lose is a big disappointment.”
The words that struck me most were Garner’s insistence that he is a leader and the clear desire to take up that mantle. It hit me because I think that intention has been obvious on the football pitch this season.
I entered the summer unsure what it would yield for the former Manchester United starlet. He had been an important part of recent years but there has been a sense that he has been playing within himself.
Whether it was his confidence, the team-mates around him or the chaos of the club, I thought there were levels to his talent we had not yet consistently seen and the challenge for him would be to ensure he could convince David Moyes he is a player to build around, rather than a squad player after a rebuild that would include focus on central midfield.
Whether intended or not, the central reinforcements Moyes initially hoped for did not materialise, at least not until Merlin Rohl was added on deadline day. To me, Garner has seized the opportunity that presented itself as a result.
The roots of his good start to the campaign lie in pre-season, when he ended the US tour with an impressive display against his former club Man United. He has carried that form into a season in which he has been placed under unexpected demands.
Asked to play left back in three of the league games to date – a role he had never played before – his versatility and willingness to sacrifice himself has been integral to Everton’s positive start to the season.
Not all of his duties on the left have come naturally or easily but they have entrenched his importance to the side. Not only is his adaptability key, the drop-off suffered in the central midfield performance when he has not been there has been resounding.
When he has had the chance to return to his natural position, he has found new levels to his performances.
Everton’s attacking stars took centre stage in the league win at Molineux but Garner was excellent at the base of the midfield. He was at his combative best at Anfield once the Blues got back into that game. And he was one of few players to emerge from midweek with credit.
This has the potential to be a big season for Garner. His first years at Everton have taken place against the context of wider club trouble. Injuries have been troublesome and the obvious riposte to anyone who questions why there has not been more glorious through balls like his assist for Beto against Leicester City in February is that he has been playing in teams that have rarely encouraged the wide players to make the forward bursts for him to pick out. That is different now.
The pressure will be on the 24-year-old to step up as a result and that expectation will continue. The return of Rohl to fitness will put his place under threat but then the expected departure of Idrissa Gueye to the Africa Cup of Nations in December means there will be a demand for a big character to emerge.
Garner has done that in the past, most notably when asked to play on the right of the defence in the season-saving win over Bournemouth under Sean Dyche.
With Gueye having now turned 36 there is a spot available as the lynchpin of Everton’s future midfield. Garner, whose contract has now entered its final 12 months, is best-placed to grasp that chance.
Moyes has certainly been impressed, going out of his way to praise the one-time England U21s Euros winner and place him in the conversation for the senior international team in a World Cup year.
Whether he can grab the attention of Thomas Tuchel remains to be seen but there is little doubt this is a season of opportunity for Garner. He has started it well.
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