There appears to still be no word on the condition of Jarrad Branthwaite or James Tarkowski after both were surprise absentees from Everton’s match last weekend against Arsenal.
Patrick Boyland of The Athletic has not heard anything that would suggest Jarrad Branthwaite’s condition would cause him to miss many upcoming matches, although he, like all other Everton fans, remains in the dark about the nature and extent of any injuries to him and James Tarkowski before the Arsenal game.
“I’ve not picked up on any significant concern around Tarkowski for example.
“I’m aware of the rumours on Branthwaite, but I haven’t heard anything to suggest that the Branthwaite one right now is particularly bad either. It was obviously a massive blow late on (before the Arsenal game).”
With another Saturday evening game fast approaching at the Hill Dickinson Stadium this weekend, Moyes appears to be extending his new policy of keeping any information about injured players under tight wraps.
Prior to the match at The Emirates Stadium, David Moyes had indicated that Jarrad Branthwaite would be fit for the clash against Arsenal last weekend. But after that no-show, Moyes was not giving anything away, with it being reported mysteriously that both players were ‘unavailable’ for that game. Joe Thomas later wrote in the Echo:
The Blues boss was tight-lipped over the absences of first-choice pairing James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite for the trip to Arsenal on Saturday, refusing to provide detail about the circumstances of either player’s omission from the matchday squad.
This follows on from the manager’s clear anger that the season-ending condition of Jack Grealish rapidly became public knowledge well before the club would even admit that he had a stress fracture of the foot.
While it may be tempting to justify such secrecy as a way of keeping important tactical information away from Everton’s upcoming opponents, most managers and their teams are, however, only too familiar with how Everton will approach the game when they next meet.