“I’m trusting myself a little bit” – James Garner talks set-piece shooting technique

James Garner was one of the standout players for Everton in their 2-2 draw with Manchester United. The Blues came from behind twice to share spoils with Ruben Amorim’s side at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Speaking to the media after the game, Garner said, “It’s always good to win, of course,” he acknowledged. “But [the draw] came with what was probably our best performance in the Summer Series.

“We just need to take it into our next pre-season game next week and hopefully we'll be ready for that.

“We all just need to remain fit. It’s well documented we’ve not brought in as many players as we'd like to, so hopefully we'll get a few more players into the door and the remaining players stay fit.”

The midfielder was involved both in and out of possession and was also a threat from set-pieces, including free-kicks and corners. He troubled the opposition goalkeeper Altay Bayindir from a free-kick and had earlier scored a wonderful free-kick during the pre-season game with Port Vale that ended 2-1 at Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Asked about his shooting from set-piece situations, Garner says he has started trust his technique more.

“I'm just trusting myself a little bit,” he continued. “Not worrying about what could go wrong and just trusting my technique and seeing what happens.

“Like I said, I just need to trust myself a little bit more.”

On Sunday, Garner returned to his usual role as a deep-lying playmaker and pulled the strings with his passing at the base of Everton’s midfield. 

In the previous fixtures of the Premier League Summer Series, he was often utilised as a wide-back on the right due to James Tarkowski’s and Michael Keane’s injury-related absences in defence.

Garner didn’t look comfortable in that role and made a few errors, but his performance against United earned plaudits from manager David Moyes post-match. 

“That's the role I've done since I was a kid. That's what I've done for the academy playing since I was six. I felt at home in that role.”

 

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