Everton Manager Moyes Considers O’Brien for Centre-Back Role
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Everton manager David Moyes has indicated that he will likely play Jake O’Brien in his natural centre-back position before the end of the season. The Republic of Ireland international has become a mainstay of the defence, making the right-back slot his own since Moyes returned to the club for his second spell as manager. However, with centre-back James Tarkowski injured for the remainder of the campaign, Moyes will have to find a short-term replacement for one of the central defensive positions.
According to RTÉ Sport, Moyes is considering shifting O’Brien inside to centre-back, a position he is more familiar with. “Well, I think Jake is a centre-half,” the manager said at the Toffees’ Friday press conference at Finch Farm ahead of Saturday’s Premier League trip to face Chelsea. “I’m not worried about doing it, that’s for sure. It’s trying to get the right balance for the team, which we think he’s done a brilliant job playing at full-back, so sometimes you’ve got the decision to make – do I change two positions or do I change one position?”
Moyes added that O’Brien, who joined Everton from Lyon last summer, has not been fulfilling as traditional full-back role as it may appear on paper. “We think we’ve done a pretty good job in getting Jake to go and play there and I call it more of a hybrid role because we actually wanted him to tuck in quite a lot and give us a chance to build at times with three defenders not four,” he said. “We’ve not really asked him to go and be joining in and be overlapping like maybe I would hope from a full back.”
RTÉ Sport reports that Moyes has options to choose from, including Michael Keane, and will look to play the options between now and the end of the season to find out which one works best for the team. “We’ve got Michael Keane available as well, so we’ve got options and we’ll look to play the options between now and the end of the season and find out which one works best for us,” Moyes said.
The news comes as a boost to O’Brien, who has been impressing in his new role as a right-back. However, Moyes believes that O’Brien’s natural position is at centre-back, and he is keen to see how he performs in that role. “My plan was probably to wait and do that in pre-season but it looks as if somewhere along the line, I’ll get the opportunity to have a look at him in the coming weeks playing at centre-half,” Moyes said.
In other news, Tarkowski faces a race to be fit for the start of pre-season as he is set to undergo surgery on a hamstring injury. The veteran centre-back’s run of 109 consecutive Premier League appearances has come to an end, and already Moyes is anxiously looking towards preparations for the new campaign. “He is going to be out for the rest of the season,” said Moyes. “He will have an operation on his hamstring and it’s a big blow to us because Tarky plays such a big role in how we’ve done so well.”
As reported by RTÉ Sport, Moyes is hopeful that Tarkowski will be back for pre-season, but admits that the injury could start to eat into that. The Toffees’ manager will be keen to have his squad fit and ready for the new campaign, and will be monitoring the progress of both O’Brien and Tarkowski closely in the coming weeks.
The information provided by RTÉ Sport highlights the challenges that Moyes faces in the coming weeks, as he looks to navigate his team through the remainder of the season. With a number of key players out injured, Moyes will have to be creative in his team selection and tactics. As RTÉ Sport reports, Moyes is considering giving O’Brien a chance to play in his natural position, and the coming weeks will be crucial in determining the team’s prospects for the remainder of the season.
Additional reporting by PA.
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