Goodison View: 4 blocks – Ben Godfrey showed shades of David Weir in Everton v West Brom
Ben Godfrey just goes from strength to strength in an Everton shirt and his colossal display v West Brom was a prime example of his stunning progress.
He has been a sensational signing since pitching up in Merseyside from recently-relegated side Norwich City and has belied his tender years by making himself a defensive demon in the heart of the Blues backline.
That’s why we are confident in comparing him to an Everton legend who graced Goodison with brilliance for eight years.
David Weir served the Blues with great distinction between 1999 and 2007 by putting his body on the line time and time again, showing the sort of bravery that has become such a feature of Godfrey’s game.
According to Sky Sports stats guru Matt Cheetham on his personal Twitter profile, our number 22 made four blocks against West Brom on Thursday, more than any player has made for us in the last three seasons.
That is some going and proves how vital he was to us keeping a clean sheet in a tense 1-0 victory at The Hawthorns.
Indeed, Godfrey features in the top 10 for blocks made per game in the Premier League this season with 1.1 [WhoScored].
He also made five clearances against the Baggies [WhoScored] as he repelled attack after attack.
Under David Moyes Weir was a staple of the Everton backline that proved such a hard nut for Premier League sides to crack and he was a big reason as to how we belied our financial difficulties to challenge the teams at the top, including a top-four finish in 2004/05.
His reading of the game and ability to plant himself in front of goalbound efforts was a key feature of his game and one we have noticed in Godfrey this season.
It is high praise and we do not want to burden him by showering heavy compliments upon his head but he has been so impressive that we are running out of superlatives to describe him.
So what better than to bestow such a prestigious honour on him.
Knowing Godfrey’s temperament so far, he will more than rise to such lofty comparisons.
In other Everton news, our view on how Jarrad Branthwaite can bounce back from his Blackburn disappointment.