James Garner: From England's 'Mini-Valverde' to missing out on the World Cup | OneFootball

(Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)

Amid the frustration at Everton’s run-in, and their meek final-day showing against Tottenham, James Garner missing out on the England squad has perhaps gone under the radar.

While from a selfish standpoint with Blue-tinted specs on, it’s good that one of Everton’s key players is going to get a full period of rest before pre-season, Garner deserved his place on that plane.

He has been one the Premier League’s outstanding central midfielders this term, and his numbers speak for themselves.

Garner scored two league goals and provided seven assists, with those nine goal involvements ranking joint-third for Everton, along with Iliman Ndiaye.

The 25-year-old created 56 chances, 18 more than the Toffees’ next-best Jack Grealish, albeit the latter did miss close to half the season due to injury.

He led Everton for passes (1,793) and expected assists (6.0).

But off the ball, he was equally as excellent.

No player in the division made more interceptions than Garner’s 59 or attempted more than his 120 tackles. Of course, it’s worth noting that Everton saw less of the ball, so he was bound to need to do the dirty work more, but that should not take away from his excellence in that department.

Garner won 179/294 ground duels, ranking behind only Mateus Fernandes (180), Ndiaye (180), Joao Gomes (199) and Elliot Anderson (231). His 60.9% success rate, meanwhile, is better than any other Premier League player to have contested 160+ duels across the campaign.

His superb form not only earned him a new contract earlier in the season, but also a first England call-up.

Garner was put straight into Thomas Tuchel’s team against Uruguay in March, and was fantastic on his debut. So much so that Tuchel labelled him as England’s own “mini [Federico] Valverde”.

Yet two months later, Garner has not made the cut.

Instead, Tuchel has gone with far too many full-back options and selected Jordan Henderson, who has played only three league games for Brentford since the end of March, as a central midfield alternative to Anderson and Declan Rice, with Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo also in there.

Tuchel has made some contentious calls, but the omission of all of Garner, Adam Wharton and, arguably, Alex Scott, is bizarre.

Mainoo seems to be getting in on the fact he plays for Manchester United. Yes, he has been good under Michael Carrick, but he is not a better player than any of those listed above, and as the numbers show, Garner should be going to North America.

Given Garner’s versatility, it seemed like he had the edge, he was the logical pick. He can play in midfield, right-back or even left-back. In a tournament, that is extremely useful.

But Tuchel has made his bed.

When asked about Garner’s omission last week, David Moyes said: “I am disappointed for Jimmy, but I’ve got to say I’m not surprised because I think the form in the last five or six weeks haven’t really encouraged players for selection.

“I think your team, your players, need to be in form to attract England managers, so we have to take a bit of the disappointment with Jimmy as well that we have not been able to get him to the World Cup.”

There’s probably some truth to that. Garner’s displays have tailed off somewhat as Everton’s form has dropped off a cliff and they’ve plummeted down to 13th.

He has still been solid, and well worthy of the club’s Player of the Season Award he received last week, but has just looked that yard short on occasion.

Fatigue probably played its part. Virgil van Dijk is the only Premier League outfielder who can better Garner’s 3,414 minutes in the competition in 2025-26.

But that is what Garner should want. If he wants to keep on improving, then with that comes extra strain and more minutes. You find the energy, you dig into the reserves.

This has been Garner’s first completely injury-free season during his time at Everton, and though the blow of missing out on a World Cup when he is entering his prime is a cruel one, there will be future tournaments to target — the next one, of course, being the Euros on British soil in 2028.

He can use not only this omission, but also Everton’s late-season failings, as motivation. Don’t let it happen again. Don’t let opportunities like this slip through your fingers.

Of all the players Everton have signed in the last few years, Garner is undoubtedly the biggest success story.

A £9million move, with bonuses potentially taking it up towards £15m, looks like a bargain. He was signed as a 21-year-old and is now about as well-rounded a player as they come, and his value is probably reaching £50m at least.

It is a lesson for Everton’s transfer committee too. If you’re going to buy young talents that you need time to develop, then they should be for lower fees, not for £30m+, when areas of the team are so short. But a lesson to the manager, who deserves credit for Garner’s growth, too — those talents need to play.

While Garner should be immensely proud of his campaign, and his development, the challenge now is a clear one: Continue to improve. Then, you can’t be ignored.

All stats via Opta Analyst