Everton were unlucky to lose to Manchester City yesterday, but once they fell behind, the dye had been cast.
As a side so used to going ahead and holding onto leads, their efforts in overturning deficits are unsurprisingly much less fruitful. Especially against the champions, who had huffed and puffed for 70 minutes before eventually finding the breakthrough.
After a mad scramble in the box following Julian Alvarez’s corner, Jarrad Branthwaite’s weak clearance fell straight to Erling Halaand, who would make no mistake on his right foot.
Jordan Pickford stood no chance, and despite controversy over the awarding of the corner, the goal stood.
However, Martin Keown actually thought that this was not the biggest mistake made by the 21-year-old central defender. He instead sought to outline another…
What Martin Keown said about Jarrad Branthwaite
As a former centre-back himself, the 57-year-old knows a thing or two about defending, even if his talents were moulded in an era more focused on bruising the opponents than brushing them aside with grace.
Regardless, his view is well-respected, and he did enjoy four years at Goodison Park before making the profitable move to George Graham’s Arsenal.
Well, speaking last night on BBC Match of the Day, he would direct his focus on the second goal, analysing Branthwaite’s conduct in the face of such a fearsome striker.
He suggested that the young titan got it all wrong against Erling Haaland. Keown claimed: ‘This is a young player that was playing exceptionally well Branthwaite, and for me, he just looks over the wrong shoulder for too long.
‘He’s looking at the ball, De Bruyne comes on, and we know he’s got to be red alert, danger all around you, Haaland’s quick, strong, and he’s making a really good run. His movement, I have to say, is excellent.
‘But when you take a look at Branthwaite, he sets his body up sideways on, he’s looking for that run there, now at this point, as that run starts to come across back the other way, I think he should be turning his body shape towards Haaland.
‘He doesn’t do it, and because he doesn’t do it there’s a big gap that opens up. He’s got to learn from that. These are little bits that he can improve on.’
How did Jarrad Branthwaite play vs Manchester City?
Whilst both goals could be attributed to his actions, it would be harsh to solely lay the blame at his feet.
After all, the first saw a side slow to react to chaos, and the second goal brutally showcased Branthwaite’s lack of experience at the top level. Give the £35k-a-week star one or two more years in the Premier League and that will likely never happen again.
Naïve and perhaps rushed under the intense pressure City put teams under, he still remained largely solid throughout, making numerous key interactions to thwart the hosts.
With five clearances, four tackles, two blocks and a 75% success rate in the duels he competed in, these are outstanding figures which indicate how the game went, via Sofascore.
It was relentless, and it was cruel that in the end he was the one to lose concentration to undo his side.
However, without him, they might not have hung on for so long, and hopefully, as Keown says, this can be a learning curve for the colossal defender with the world still at his feet.
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