Everton triumphantly claimed their first Premier League victory of the season yesterday, as they travelled to Brentford and came away with a well-earned three points.
Given the hosts' home record last season saw them lose only twice, few predicted anything other than a routine victory for Thomas Frank's men, against the beleaguered visitors who were yet to win a game in the league.
However, with the Bees starting slowly, Sean Dyche sought to capitalise. Abdoulaye Doucoure's goal set the tone with a sweet half-volleyed finish before James Tarkowski nodded in from a corner and Dominic Calvert-Lewin wrapped up the points with his late goal.
A perfect afternoon for the travelling Toffees, who bore witness to a huge victory which is now set to kickstart their campaign.
Whilst there were numerous outstanding performers for a side who rained down 18 shots despite only enjoying 43% of the ball, one man shone yet again despite his continued presence in an unfamiliar role.
However, should James Garner continue to play like that from the right wing, there is little chance that he might return to his favoured central midfield.
How did James Garner play vs Brentford?
As the only change from the side that whimpered to a 1-0 home defeat against Arsenal a week ago, the 22-year-old general was employed to replace the attack-minded Arnaut Danjuma, with Dyche clearly seeking to unleash a game plan.
Seeking to pack out the midfield whilst also ensuring they retained a keen defensive impetus on both flanks, Garner marked a fine option to fulfil such a role.
Having shone for England U21s at right-back in their recent European Championship success, already his ability to star from the right was renowned. However, the former Burnley boss endeavoured not to stifle the creativity that the Manchester United academy graduate clearly boasts, by deploying him just in front of Ashley Young.
This quickly turned into a masterstroke, as the hosts remained frustrated with the lack of options they were presented with from teammates. Having a host of intelligent pressers, all of whom have the rigid defensive structure locked down, was bound to be imperative, and Garner was just one of a perfectly drilled system of players willing to fight for the win.
It did help that the midfielder enjoyed one of his outstanding games in royal blue, as a consistent creative threat despite his reliable solidity.
He would maintain an impressive 92% pass accuracy throughout the clash, yet blended such an economical display with a whopping four key passes, via Sofascore. Relentless until the final whistle, his work in dispossessing Nathan Collins showcased his defensive know-how, before he allowed that quality to shine through by slipping in his compatriot to score the third.
The game was over with that goal, forged almost solely by the endeavour and excellence of Garner.
However, as aforementioned, the former Nottingham Forest loanee was not to shirk his defensive responsibilities, still chipping in with three tackles and one clearance to justify his 8.0 rating, the second-highest of any player on the pitch, via Sofascore.
This aligned well with the Liverpool Echo's post-match player ratings, who offered the following summation of this display which merited an 8/10 rating in their eyes: "Repaid his manager’s faith in him to deploy him out wide early on as his cross from the left wing picked out Tarkowski for his flick-on to Doucoure for the opener and then hustled and harried to win the ball back before picking out substitute Calvert-Lewin for the third."
Having joined for just £15m in 2022, it finally seems like the Toffees are set to enjoy the best of Garner, who has seemingly shaken off his injury troubles to become a mainstay in the side, no matter where he is played.
Who could James Garner replace?
With Dyche clearly favouring a more workmanlike midfield, given the trio of Amadou Onana, Idrissa Gana Gueye and Doucoure is seldom altered, Garner could perhaps be a victim of his own technical prowess and versatility.
The former all share a relentless work ethic and a focus on solidity, and whilst it often negates the opposition's attack, it also blunts their own due to a lack of creativity from midfield.
It is well known the quality that the 6 foot 1 Garner boasts, but he has still had to battle for any first-team involvement since joining. The £30k-per-week wizard even admitted his desperation for minutes by noting: “Wherever I am wanted, I’ll play.”
This came years after the "special" talent, as branded by Statman Dave, gave his own verdict on his favoured role: "Personally, I’m not too fussed if I play as a 6 or 8. Throughout the academy I played as a deeper lying 6. People maybe questioned whether could I score and create but when I got to the 21s I showed I could also play box to box."
Such adaptability and a willingness to sacrifice himself for the team makes the midfielder far more likely to be used to plug gaps, even though it could be argued that his creativity outranks most of the aforementioned three.
After all, whilst Onana might boast 0.8 key passes per game, his youth leads to him slipping in and out of games, often unable to dominate for a full 90. Then, whilst Doucoure has shown up with some big goals across the last 12 months, even he can go missing, despite remaining one of the side's biggest threats.
However, if anyone was to lose their place in the side it would surely be Gueye, given the obvious drop-off that the 33-year-old has suffered even if he remains a tireless enforcer.
Still an intelligent footballer, the Senegal international is prone to some truly uncomfortable moments, playing blind passes and dawdling in possession in dangerous areas.
One such example was showcased in their 4-0 away loss to Arsenal last season, where he was lambasted for gifting the hosts their second by talkSPORT pundit Dean Ashton on commentary: "That was just really poor, slow play from Idrissa Gana Gueye.
6
2
1.7
7.12
6
0
0.8
7.17
6
0
0.8
6.98
5
1
1.5
7.17
"You cannot switch off the way Idrissa Gana Gueye has done there. It is a massive, massive error."
To replace that kind of unreliability with the ever-improving Garner, and not only would they retain high effort levels, but that injection of creativity could prove integral in providing even more chances for the forwards.
After yesterday's display against Brentford, where the Englishman dominated, surely Dyche must be considering shifting him across to allow him to shine in his favoured role.