Everton have seen a resurgence in the last few weeks, especially with Jake O’Brien who has come to life since Sean Dyche’s exit.
David Moyes has brought that feel-good factor back to Everton in a short amount of time, but there is still plenty of work to do.
Despite the job just starting, O’Brien has been a strong positive in Moyes’ early return to the club.
During the Tottenham game, Everton fans couldn’t understand Dyche not starting O’Brien as the 23-year-old followed up the performance against Brighton on Saturday.
Whilst enduring his time with the Everton squad, O’Brien has noticed something about Jordan Pickford.
Jake O’Brien on what’s ‘different’ about Jordan Pickford at Everton
After joining the club from Lyon in the summer, O’Brien has struggled to maintain his place in the starting lineup, but his fortunes are beginning to change.
After his slow start to Everton under Dyche, the Irish defender has noticed a factor with the style of play, as O’Brien sees Moyes wants more possession at Everton which is a key difference to how the former Toffees boss played.
The defender has also seen why Pickford is unique since getting to know him behind the scenes at Everton.
After the full-time whistle in the Toffees’ 1-0 win against Brighton, there was a brawl between the players, with Pickford at the heart of it.
Speaking after the game in a post-match interview, O’Brien said: “Jordan’s a different type of character if you know him personally. He loves this kind of stuff and with his experience, he knows what he’s doing.
“At times, he can upset other teams but he’s only there to help us and get the three points. He’s got plenty of personality.
“It’s easy to see why he’s number one for England and one of the top keepers in the world. You just have to watch the games, he makes fantastic saves and brings confidence when you know a keeper like this is behind you.”
O’Brien on Everton’s ‘enjoyable’ performance against Brighton
Brighton fans were frustrated after Everton’s win as Moyes’ masterplan worked to a tee, defending resiliently throughout.
The Seagulls are known for their free-flowing attacking football, but the defence including O’Brien and Pickford shut up shop excellently.
Adding onto his comments about the Everton goalkeeper, O’Brien explained how the Toffees’ set-up was perfected.
“Brighton are a good team and we watched a lot on how they would play, so we knew it would be difficult and at times we’d need to sit back as you saw in the second half,” O’Brien said.
“We did our homework on them and even from just the way we defended… we defended really well and most importantly kept a clean sheet.
“It was an enjoyable performance. We stuck in there together. It wasn’t the easiest of wins obviously, but the most important thing is we’ve come away from a tough place with three points. We try and make it as hard as possible for teams to play against us now and thankfully it worked out for us.”
With Dyche almost letting O’Brien leave Everton, Moyes will be thrilled he has the defender at his disposal, as the future looks bright for O’Brien at the Toffees.
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