James Garner opens up on Everton turning point and position he'd like to make his own

Everton midfielder James Garner has reflected on his growing importance to Sean Dyche after a difficult first season with the club ended with survival joy and international success

James Garner’s fledgling Everton career can be split into two distinct parts: Before and after Bournemouth.

The south coast club has played a significant role in the 13 months since he arrived as a deadline day signing by Frank Lampard. His first start came in the Carabao Cup defeat at the Vitality Stadium in November. He lasted just 52 minutes before being withdrawn and in the days that followed was diagnosed with a stress fracture to his back.

But the Bournemouth game in which he made his first start as a Blue and which preceded the first serious injury of his career is not the one that played a defining role in his time on Merseyside.

The watershed moment in the Everton career of the 22-year-old came when the Cherries visited Goodison Park on the last day of the season. Out of position and under the pressure surrounding one of the biggest matches in his club’s modern history, Garner’s excellent performance was heralded as crucial to the narrow victory that saved the Blues' top-flight status.

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Garner himself recognises that 1-0 win, in which he played right-back, as a significant point in his career. Reflecting on that match, he said: “I think that game showed supporters what I could do. I played seven or eight games towards the back end of last season and I think that last game, even though I was out of position, let me show them what I was all about, that I will give 100% for the club, and I have the quality to go with it.”

Amid the relief and emotion of survival there was an outpouring of praise for Garner, a player many supporters had recognised had endured a tough first season. Across the final weeks of the season, when the club really needed him and as team-mate after team-mate suffered injury after injury, his composure and versatility was crucial across the midfield and then the defence.

That 90 minutes at right-back gave him a boost that he credits with giving him the confidence to perform to such a high standard as England’s Under-21s won their age group’s European Championship. Asked whether the Bournemouth game set the tone for his summer, he said: “Yes, 100%... I had such a good game in the last game of the season and ended up playing right-back at the Euros and having a good tournament, so that gave me massive confidence. For me, personally, when you are playing with confidence there is such a massive difference in your game.”

The success of the summer seemed some distance away in the depths of a dismal winter for Garner. The start to his Everton career was hampered by the search for match fitness after his move, which came five games into the Premier League season. It felt like an opportunity was opening up for him when he made his first start, only for the injury to rule him out for months. By the time he came back into the fold, the Blues had collapsed into crisis and Sean Dyche had taken over from Lampard.

Looking back on that period, during which he missed the club’s World Cup-break trip to Australia, he said: “It was very frustrating because I couldn’t help my team or my team-mates, which is what I signed for - to change the story from a club surrounded by such negative press and losing games to hopefully change it to one of positivity and winning games. Being unable to help, and having my first proper injury, it was quite hard for me.

“I didn’t quite know how to deal with it. And then the change of the manager - the manager who has brought you in gets sacked and a new manager comes in so you start to think: ‘Am I his type of player? Do I match his style?’ There are a lot of things that go through your head and that was quite a difficult period.”

It took some time for Garner to get his opportunity under Dyche but when he did, he took it - even as the side around him struggled. Injuries - this time to other players - disrupted his progress though and led to his versatility being exploited as he was moved out of position. That is a theme that has continued into this season, with Garner having played out wide amid the search for fitness undertaken by the likes of Dwight McNeil, Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Harrison. It was from out wide that he made such an impact on Saturday, in Everton’s stunning win at Brentford - the club’s first league win of the season.

Garner was key to two of the Blues' three goals, delivering the cross that ended up at the feet of Abdoulaye Doucoure then later snatching the ball and feeding Dominic Calvert-Lewin for the third goal, one that sent the away end wild. It was another key moment in his career and one he is keen to build on. And while his ambition is to force his way into the centre of Dyche’s midfield, he is eager to make the most of any opportunity that comes his way.

He said: “Ultimately, I want to be playing in the middle of the park. That is my natural position, that is where I have always played. That is the position they signed me for. But at the moment I am happy playing and if I am going to be playing, whether at right-back, right wing, hopefully midfield, I am not too fussed as long I am playing. Hopefully I have shown I can do a job in all three, it is just whatever the manager selects.”

What is clear is that, after a difficult start to his Everton career, his finish to last season and start to this one has enabled him to win the trust of Dyche and showcased his value to this squad - in whichever role he is chosen for.