EXCLUSIVE: Richard Dunne calls for a big change in the Everton team next season

Former Everton player Richard Dunne has been speaking about the big change he would like to see in the Blues team next season

Former Everton player Richard Dunne has called for a big change at the back for David Moyes’ men next season.

Ever since the Glaswegian gaffer returned to Goodison Park in January last year, Dunne’s compatriot Jake O’Brien – who had not started a Premier League game under previous manager Sean Dyche – has been predominantly deployed as a right-back.

Although the tactic of deploying a square peg in a round hole has enabled the Cork-born player to build up his experience in the English top flight following his £16.43million move from Olympique Lyonnais in July 2024, the 6ft 6in star is naturally a centre-back.

O’Brien has excelled on the few occasions that he has been picked in the heart of defence and five times he played there in the Premier League last season, Everton only lost once when they conceded two late goals to go down 2-0 away to champions Arsenal.

OPINION

As someone who operated in a similar role, Dubliner Dunne, who made his debut for the Blues as a 17-year-old before going on to make 431 Premier League appearances throughout his career, told the ECHO: “I think it’s time to move Jake into his favoured role in central defence. He’s done well at full-back and he’s been game, never letting Everton down.

“But I think the very best out of him, long term he’s going to be a centre-half. It doesn’t have to be perfect straight away, he’s learned to play in the Premier League and he has shown he is at the level internationally where he has been fantastic.

“Push him in and it’s another six months of him learning his role as a centre-back in the Premier League. I think he’s more than capable of being a top performer in the Premier League and he’s shown that.

“Now is probably the right time to get him in there. They don’t seem to be able to keep Jarrad Branthwaite fit, so having Jake in there, he’s quick, good on the turn and can make recovery runs.

“He’s a player with a lot of potential. Now it’s time to let him go, putting him in his main position.”

James Tarkowski and Michael Keane were Moyes’ most used centre-back pairing last season but given that both of them are now 33, Dunne reckons that the combination of O’Brien, 25, and Branthwaite, 24, could be the way forward.

Speaking courtesy of Harry Kane World Cup 2026 goals, he said: “If they could get Jarrad to stay healthy then it’s a potentially formidable partnership. It would be some size as well and physically very good.

“I think there has been a lot of hope for Branthwaite, he’s a fantastic footballer and it’s probably just the injuries that have kept him out of being at the World Cup with England. That’s the sort of level that he can get to.

“If you play the two of them together, you’re looking at a centre-half partnership that could be going for the next 10 years. The two of them are of a young enough age and physically dominating with decent speed.

“It would be lovely for David Moyes if he could turn around and say: ‘This is the future and we’re going to go with it.’”