Everton sent Jarrad Branthwaite to left-back at Hull City and the move did exactly what the club would not have wanted. He was fine in his usual centre-back work, but the emergency shift against Hull made Everton's lack of cover behind Vitaliy Mykolenko look obvious.

Branthwaite has still been one of Everton's better performers this season, with a 6.89 Premier League rating from six starts and 540 minutes. That is the sort of output that explains why he is such a trusted defender in the middle. It also explains why moving him wide felt like a compromise rather than a plan.

Branthwaite at left-back

Christopher Beesley, the Everton reporter at liverpoolecho.co.uk, summed up the concern neatly: "Jarrad Branthwaite is Everton’s Rolls-Royce and you don't go off-roading in a luxury vehicle." That is a fair description of what Everton asked him to do. He created a gilt-edged chance for Thierno Barry with a low cross, but Barry let the ball go through his legs, and then Oli McBurnie nutmegged him in the build-up to Hull's first goal.

There was still some value in the move, because Branthwaite can pass and carry the ball well enough to help Everton move up the pitch. The problem is that left-back needs repeat actions, recovery runs and constant one-v-one defending. That is not the same job as playing on the left side of central defence, and the Hull match showed the difference.

Everton's cover behind Mykolenko

Mykolenko had played every minute of Everton's first seven matches this season before a muscle problem ruled him out at Hull. Beesley also pointed to the wider issue behind the selection call: "That’s a big part of the problem, he’s seldom had any proper back-up since he joined." Ruben Vinagre's 20-minute outing against Chelsea, followed by just four more minutes in the Premier League, underlines how little Everton have leaned on a natural alternative.

David Moyes has been left with a thin left side, and the evidence from Hull was enough on its own. Branthwaite can cover there in an emergency, but Everton do not want that to become a recurring fix. If Mykolenko is out again, Everton will need a better answer than asking a centre-back to keep bailing them out wide.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →