James Garner — Everton’s invaluable “Swiss Army knife”
Everton's lack of full-back options could have been a significant issue this season and while the square-pegs-in-round-holes approach hasn't always been ideal, there is one highly versatile presence giving David Moyes options in numerous positions
If you’d asked the late, great Howard Kendall about utility players, he’d no doubt have told you they are worth their weight in gold. Everton’s trophy-winning teams of mid-1980s were blessed with two of them — Alan Harper and Kevin Richardson, versatile operators who could be deployed in numerous positions and be relied upon to ensure continuity in the side.
In the days long before three or even five substitutions could be made during matches, such team members were invaluable but it often meant that they weren’t necessarily automatic starters when everyone was fit. Nevertheless, they were integral to the Toffees’ success, particularly, of course, the title-winning teams of 1985 and 1987.
In the Premier League era, Everton have had players capable of playing in more than one role and, during his first spell as manager, David Moyes leaned heavily on the flexibility of certain players or used different positions to either blood new players or develop their overall profile.
Phil Jagielka memorably filled in as central midfielder in his early days as a Blue and then operated as a right-back before making the centre-half his own. Likewise David Weir and Joleon Lescott who started as full-backs before moving inside.
Moyes, of course, returned to the strategy when he replaced Sean Dyche in January, instilling centre-back Jake O’Brien as a makeshift right-back with impressive results. The move was credited as one of the tactical shifts that sparked a run of results that would lift the club well clear of relegation danger and an eventual 13th-place finish.
O’Brien at full-back has been a less successful tool this term, however. The need for a natural right-back to succeed Seamus Coleman in the way in which Nathan Patterson was unable was an acute one and has been ever since it became clear that the Irishman was struggling to play on a consistent basis.
On the other side of defence, there has been a similar lack of depth below Vitalii Mykolenko, with August addition Adam Aznou deemed by Moyes to be too raw and unready for the demands of the Premier League. The management were insistent that not all of the problems would be fixed in one window but summer 2025 did leave some fairly urgent needs unaddressed.
Alan Harper (left) and Kevin Richardson (right) were vital members of the trophy-winning Everton teams of the 1980s
This season, either the cover or the alternative option in both full-back roles has been James Garner, a player who, at an initial £9m, cost Everton more or less his weight in gold at the current sky-high price of the precious metal but whose worth the team now is much, much higher.
The Birkenhead-born player is primarily a central midfielder and an aspiring No 6 for club and country but in his time at Goodison Park and now Bramley-Moore Dock, he has played in those roles plus right-wing, No 10 (the role in which he excelled on loan at Nottingham Forest before making the switch to Everton), left-back and right-back.
To describe Garner as either a “utility player” in the traditional sense or a “jack of all trades but master of none” would be something of a back-handed compliment because he is more than simply adaptable. Certainly Moyes has been arguing that the one-time Manchester United youth product should be on Thomas Tuchel’s radar for the England setup on current form in his preferred central midfield berth.
Nevertheless, it’s fair to say he hasn’t yet reached “master” level in Everton’s side as a more attacking midfielder nor has he had enough game-time as a “holding six” to make that role his own either. Tidy on the ball, tenacious in the tackle, capable of delivering a devastating free-kick — direct or otherwise — and one of those hard-working players who just gets on with the job with minimal fuss, he also possesses an excellent football brain and an eye for a defence-splitting pass.
If there are, perhaps, a couple of frustrations where his progress is concerned it’s that he doesn’t look for those probing slide-rule balls enough (perhaps due to the well-documented issues in the centre-forward department or the player's self-confessed lack of confidence at times)) or drive forward to break the lines enough from midfield. And he certainly doesn't score enough — he is in his fourth season with the Blues but has just three goals to his name.
There again, that may be because ultimately, he will become the kind of defensive midfielder he sees himself as — the screen in front of the back four with the quality of distribution to take the ball off the centre-halves and the Blues moving out of defence.
For the time being, however, there is no question that Garner’s versatility makes him one of Everton’s most valuable players, a notion that will, no doubt, be pressed home by his agent during negotiations over a new contract at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The 24-year-old’s existing terms are up at the end of the season and he is on fairly modest wages compared to his ever-present peers in the team on account of his relative youth when he joined. Everton reportedly have a club option to extend his deal by another year but with reports that the likes of Newcastle have been watching Garner, it would behoove the Blues to tie down an important member of the squad.
The upcoming trips to Old Trafford and Vitality Stadium, with the visit to Bramley-Moore Dock of Newcastle in between, will give strong indications of whether Moyes feels that Garner is the better option at right-back until a natural operator for that position can be recruited. (Unfortunately, he is currently one yellow card from a one-game ban which could throw a spanner in the works.)
His presence there in the victory over Fulham, an experiment that many fans have been itching to see the manager try, provided the Toffees with a ball-player in defence capable of picking passes out down the line and generally looking forward rather than sideways as well as much-needed balance overall. Indeed, he has attempted almost twice as many progressive passes, created more shot-creating actions and taken more shots himself playing as a full-back than as a midfielder this season.
If Moyes was concerned about the negative impact of the switch on his midfield, Tim Iroegbunam and then Merlin Röhl demonstrated last Saturday that there are alternative options but it remains to be seen if the gaffer is confident either would be ready to hold down the fort in the middle over the course of what is a tricky trio of fixtures.
Regardless of how Moyes sets his side up, he will feel blessed that he has a genuine utility player in his squad and one who, again, is more than simply that; someone who can give him options in terms of team selection and then during matches to affect games tactically.
While the recruitment committee weighs up potential full-back targets for the next two windows, James Garner can ensure that the headache in the meantime isn’t a crippling one.
Reader Responses
Selected thoughts from readers14/11/2025 07:05:47
To anyone that doesn't know much about Garner, I tell them: imagine if Phil Neville could play football.
He has become a vital part of the team and he's still young, so hopefully a new improved contract will keep him here.
14/11/2025 07:59:02
According to FourFourTwo via BBC Gossip:-
"English midfielder James Garner, 24, says he has "heard nothing" and there have been no talks with Everton about extending his contract, which runs out next summer. (FourFourTwo)"
Hopefully our new administrators are not going to let another "Gosling" situation occur.
14/11/2025 08:28:40
I think Garner is currently our best option at RB, O’Brien has done a decent job, but I believe opponents are targeting him this season with his lack of mobility and his inability to overlap and cross.
Garner can do those things and is an intelligent footballer who can link with midfield.
Playing Garner at RB also opens up far more options in midfield for Moyes to try, last week it was Irogbunem, he could use Rohl, Alcaraz in a diamond,or Dibling out wide with Ndiaye coming inside, it just gives us variation in midfield and strengthens the RB position with James at right back, a new contract should be a given for a player of his versatility in such a small squad.
14/11/2025 08:50:46
I am surprised the club have not started talks to give him a new contract on two fronts. Firstly I think he has been excellent this season and as we have seen is very versatile. Moyes obviously thinks highly of him as well by pushing for international recognition and is probably one of the first names on the team sheet every week.
Secondly is the loss of a transfer fee as it sounds like we could lose him on a free in the summer. We might not be in the financial straits of a few years ago but I’m sure we can’t afford to lose out on significant transfer fees
14/11/2025 09:00:05
The club has an option extend Garner's contract by a year next summer and/or give him a new deal which gives a bit of breathing space.The latter would be the most likely I would hope.
14/11/2025 11:25:04
I wonder how this will affect thinking about getting a specialist RB in January. A fortnight ago it was a priority, less so now. Guess a lot depends on how quickly Röhl gets up to speed and if there’s actually a quality RB available in January.
14/11/2025 11:30:30
I've always said that he appears to me as being a little bit lightweight in the midfield, which may be correct or not. However he seems to be a goodish fit at RB, which makes me think that giving him a run there would give him and Moyes the chance to see if that would work and is the answer to the RB saga.
He certainly is adaptable but do we want him to be a Harper or Richardson (good as they were at it) for the rest of his Everton career? I think he is better than that and given the chance to make one position his own (whilst retaining the ability to help out elsewhere when necessary) is a better route for him. His international ambitions, and those of his Manager, would also be be best served that way too.
Am I thinking and talking a load of b s or is there some merit in my thoughts?
14/11/2025 12:44:34
Good article on one of our most consistent - if sometimes unsung- players.
I think Garner is far too talented and tactically savvy to be used as a fill-in ‘utility’ player.
I’d like to see him as the holding midfielder in a 4-1-4-1, which would allow us to play both KDH and Alcaraz in the centre. They would complement each other well and Charley’s energy and drive through the middle would add variety to our attacking threat.
Of course this set-up might leave us a bit more exposed at the back but you never know, we might score a few more than we concede.
14/11/2025 15:57:20
Hugh (3) That article in FourFourTwo surprised me. I imagine any hesitancy by the club is in part due to the back injury issues which restricted James’s availability in 2022/23 and 2024/25. Hopefully he has overcome those problems and with his peak years in front of him he is ready to be a key player in an improving squad. Recent evidence suggests so; in the season to date he has been one of our most consistent performers.
In the squad as it is now and with recruitment options likely to be limited in January, I can see him regularly being switched between full back and central midfield through the rest of this season. He has the game intelligence to adjust quickly to the requirements of a situation. In the longer term he looks well equipped to handle the midfield pivot role dictating the flow of play and shielding the defence.
Assuming the player’s wage demands are not unreasonable and that there are no underlying fitness doubts, it really is beholden on the new recruitment team to secure the 24 year old’s services on an extended contract. The club has too many other squad issues to deal with that it can afford to lose one of its stronger performers.
14/11/2025 16:33:44
Jimmy Garner will always give 100% and gives a quality delivery so for me not only is he one of the first names on the team sheet we also need to tie him down long term especially with the alleged interest fro Newcastle and Man U.
14/11/2025 16:43:07
Good summary John, we don't know everything, if much at all!
I see a player improving AND being more versatile, one of the first names on the team sheet this season.
14/11/2025 19:48:30
He's a hard-working, solid pro, who'll do, for now. He's 25 before the season's out, and what we're seeing now is anything he'll ever be as a footballer.
I'm hoping that our new owners prove ambitious enough to be, first, looking for an "upgrade" mid-fielder, not just locking in James Garner for three more seasons.
14/11/2025 20:02:40
james Flynn @ 13
Absolutely !
And apart from Grealish, Pickford, Ndiaye and Branthwaihe, There are plenty of other players, that we could get an upgrade on.
I hope we aren’t going to go down that well trodden Path, of offering extensions to mediocre players, for mediocre performances.. Obviously Garner and Gana excluded.
14/11/2025 20:21:21
Garner is a good player but I’m still unsure where exactly is his best position, I feel like he hasn’t reached his potential..yet and there could be more to come, as the headline suggests he’s a jack of all trades master of none.
As for the right back issue, I’d like to see Garner carry on there for now and see how he progresses, which leaves Jake on the bench, which is unlucky as he’s done well when called upon.
Personally I prefer Garner in midfield for his combativeness and passing, is he a long term answer for the 6 role? I’m doubtful, it’s a bit of a conundrum as I like Garner but to me he looks like a good championship player.
Come January will we be in the market for a right back or striker? I’m not holding my breath, I can see us sticking it out with what we have.
Time will tell.
14/11/2025 21:18:52
I’ve mentioned it on another thread, and I’m not big on similies, but Snodin excelled at RB and even got in England’s squad when it actually counted, Garner should give his all in that position and see where it takes him.
15/11/2025 11:18:23
I believe Garner will come into his own once Gana Gueye leaves. A midfield of Garner, KDH and Rohl, maybe one to savour. It's also good for the team and squad, that we know he can be trusted to do a job as a RB / LB when required.
I am pleased to see Lyndon giving praise to Richardson and Harper, They really are the unsung heroes of the mid 80s team. Richardson proved himself an excellent midfielder, when he moved to Arsenal. HK was blessed to have those two lads and to think Harper came from the darkside to join us. Another of HKs master strokes.
17/11/2025 16:47:29
For me this season, hes reliable and consistent and is a vitsl part of the squad.
I sense Armstrong is progressing very well, and next sesson will be in the 1st team squad. Power. Pace,vision and stamina, and stay injury free, will get even better.
So I think Gana, Will be atound next year but will be filling in more, than starting.
So Garner will hopefully be offerred a new contract, in view, he does a very good job as an RB, and in midfield, and is a very good all round player for Everton.
LB, and a striker in January? I think RB is covered by Garner.
Hooefully, the club will spend any funds they may have wisely.
17/11/2025 23:28:33
Terrific player that we should keep
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14/11/2025 02:26:59
We should offer him a new contract and I think we will.
He can play as a number 6, number 8, right back or right wing back and does a good job for the team.
Personally, I see him more as a number 6 and prefer not to see him partnered with Gueye as they both tend to sit in front of the defence.
Right back is a difficult position to learn, but we saw the benefit of having him cover in the Fulham game. He can link up with midfield, is unafraid to push forward and can pass or cross the ball into dangerous areas.
Like O'Brien, he will get found out on occasion but if Moyes does not want to select Coleman or a fit-again Patterson there then he will do a job for us.