Journalist praises ‘very underrated’ Conor Coady and James Tarkowski for important roles at Everton
Both Conor Coady and James Tarkowski arrived at Everton in the summer and have immediately taken up leadership roles in Frank Lampard’s squad.
The defensive duo have been a major positive for the Toffees this season, and their efforts have meant Everton headed into the international break with the second best defensive record in the Premier League.
A budding partnership is developing between the two English stars, who hardly took long to settle down in Merseyside.
Journalist Simon Phillips, who has been published in Chelsea-News.co and is also the host of TalkChelsea podcast, already views the duo as a pivotal part of Everton’s line-up, and praised them for their impressive leadership with the Toffees.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Phillips said: “They’ve bought into his vision and what he’s trying to create there at Everton.
“They’re literally the core of that team, the spine of that team if you want to call it that, and I think they’re both very underrated players.
“They’re going to continue to be massive, massive players for Lampard and the exact fit of player that he wanted to come in and just provide that leadership and that stability at the back and the core of this team.”
Robust and reliable
After taking the Everton job, Lampard quickly made it clear that he wanted to improve the defence. Now, the Toffees have a back four made up entirely of his signings.
Lampard deserves credit for every one of the signings – who have all been fantastic since arriving at Finch Farm.
He took a risk on bringing in both Tarkowski and Coady in one summer and hoping they gelled, but it was clearly a risk worth taking and he finally has a clear first-choice centre-back pairing.
They complement each other well at the back and are both excellent leaders and communicators, which will only help the rest of the team further up the pitch too.
With Tarkowski tied down to a four-year deal with the Blues, Lampard will be already planning to make Coady’s stay at Goodison permanent after he signed a season-long loan deal in the summer.
Should that move go through – Everton will have their long-term back four sorted.