Everton 2023-2024 Season Review: Centre Backs Report Card

With the 2023-24 season coming to a close, we are into our season review series with a look at the centre backs and how they did this season.

When Sean Dyche arrived at Goodison Park he was taking over from Frank Lampard who was never renowned for his defensive play and never attempted to solidify the defense during his tenure. Dyche has spent the past 16 months addressing those frailties and this season has been successful in many respects because of the central defenders that gave the team a solid base to work.

After the departure of Yerry Mina and Connor Coady and Mason Holgate, it was left to James Tarkowski and Michael Keane to start the season but that went poorly and then Jarrad Branthwaite entered the picture and the rest will be discussed below. You would be hard pressed to find a premier League team who had three centre backs to

James Tarkowski

G - 38 Min - 3419 Gls - 1 Ast - 1 xG - 2.6 npxG - 2.6 - xAG - 2.5 SCA - 44 GCA - 3

When the former Burnley man arrived on a free transfer it would be hard to believe that the Manchester-born defender would play in every minute of every league game for the Toffees in the next 16 months which he has done. This season Tarkowski has had another stellar year and finished the season with the most blocks in the Premier League (56), and the second most clearances (186) and headed clearances (107).

His steady, calm and determined work game in and game out provided the team with the leadership that was required when goals were hard to come by in most matches. It was also his role as mentor for Jarrad Branthwaite that created the centre back pairing that conceded 51 goals which was only bettered by Liverpool, City and Arsenal.

James Tarkowski is part of the spine of the team that needs to remain in place for next year. With the successful season which he has had, it is hard to understand how he has not been considered for the England team. A partnership with Branthwaite has to be as good a pairing as we currently have with Maguire and Stones.

Grade: A (Assured and appreciated by us)

Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images

Jarrad Branthwaite

G - 28 Min - 2469 Gls - 2 Ast - 0 xG - 1.5 npxG - 1.5 - xAG - 0.9 SCA - 37 GCA - 3

When Everton were thoroughly beaten at Aston Villa in the second match of the season, Sean Dyche turned to his young centre back who stepped in and ended up winning the Young Player of the Season Award. In those early days, Branthwaite was bedding in and learning how to work with Tarkowski and the rest of the defensive unit. By the end of the season it was Branthwaite who was the leader at the back.

A call up to the England squad in March was not a surprise and I think he should have made the final squad. The data supports his inclusion. According to Fotmob, Branthwaite ranked highly in several key defending areas including; recoveries [94%], aerial duels won [94%], duels won [97%], and interceptions [97%].

With our current financial situation something has to give and I would anticipate that one of our best players will be sacrificed for our PSR numbers to be within the guidelines. My hope is that Branthwaite is not the player that goes. Our future success has a more assured outcome with Branthwaite in the team.

His sell on value will continue to climb and the move to the new stadium along with the arrival of some stability in the ownership structure will allow his inevitable departure to be less problematic for the team’s success. Also, we will have another year to watch him gracefully patrol the back line in the royal blue shirt.

Grade: A (Ability beyond most)

Photo by Stewart Kendall/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images

Michael Keane

G - 9 Min - 439 Gls - 1 Ast - 1 xG - 0.7 npxG - 0.7 - xAG - 0.0 SCA - 4 GCA - 1

Keane is consistently one of the few Everton players who are held in such low regard amongst the Everton fan base. For every important goal like the one at Burnley this season there are several ‘howlers’ that are long remembered. That being said, he appears to understand that he is not starting unless there is an injury and this year he only appeared in 9 games and started only four. With such a formidable partnership of Tarkowski and Branthwaite there was little opportunity to get a chance.

If we look at his numbers year over year, there is a drop in many categories that are critical as a defender; per game duels won, ground duels won, aerial duels won, clearances and interceptions were all lower this season.

In August 2020, Keane signed a 5 year, £13.32 M contract which is an average annual salary of £3.38 M. Since that extension, Keane’s market value has dropped every year and he is currently valued at £5 million. He cost the club £30 M. Another one of the signings that have contributed to the financial mess that we currently find ourselves. If we could get anything for him I would take it but that is not probably going to happen. He will run out his contract, we will get nothing at the end and we will have spent more than three million to have him warm the bench this year.

Grade: C (Cash out this window)

Click here for the full 2023-24 Everton Season Review series where we recap every aspect of the campaign that just ended.