Credit: Imago

Josh Edwards

Fri 27 March 2026 16:10, UK

Jake O’Brien has been a regular for Everton this season, but his performance in Ireland’s defeat to Czechia could damage his position.

Whether it has been the right choice or not, O’Brien has started regularly for the Toffees this season, with many of his appearances coming at right-back.

That was the case in Everton’s latest win over Chelsea, with Michael Keane and James Tarkowski starting centrally.

However, Ireland’s defeat to Czechia did not shine a good light on O’Brien, who faltered in various areas of his game.

Jake O’Brien’s stats vs Czechia expose truth

While Everton don’t always have a lot of pressure on their full-backs to deliver in the final third, they still need them to be competent on the ball, and against Czecha, O’Brien wasn’t.

The 24-year-old completed just 68 per cent of his 37 attempted passes, which has been a theme of his season in the Premier League, where he ranks in the bottom 10 per cent for pass accuracy.

Typically, his defensive capabilities make up for his lack of quality on the ball, but again, that was not the case for Ireland.

He won just one of his four ground duels, while also losing 50 per cent of them in the air.

On top of that, the Toffees star was rather fortunate to avoid a yellow card, having committed three fouls in the 120 minutes that he played.

What could David Moyes change at Everton?

If O’Brien were to be dropped, the simple replacement would be either Seamus Coleman or Nathan Patterson.

Coleman played 96 minutes for Ireland, in what was his first appearance since November, while Patterson has been frozen out completely by Moyes at Hill Dickinson.

With Jarrad Barnthwaite benched against Chelsea, a potential return for him could also give the Toffees the option to switch to a back three consisting of him, Keane and Tarkowski, which has brought success before.

There’s a strong case to be made that Everton’s best defence is without O’Brien, but whether Moyes feels that way remains to be seen.