Sky Sports pundit talks up James Tarkowski and Everton defence to stop Erling Haaland and Manchester City
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
James Tarkowski and the Everton defence will take pride in the challenge of stopping Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, according to Kevin Campbell.
The Toffees centre-back told BBC 5Live on 24 October that it was he didn’t know how players are supposed to stop the in-form Norwegian and that at times the reigning champions look “unstoppable”, before clarifying with the help of Chris Sutton that there were still “more terrifying things than Erling Haaland”.
But no matter the size of the task Sky Sports pundit Campbell is confidence that the Everton back line will be looking forward to facing the star man because they want to beat the best to prove themselves.
Speaking exclusively to Goodison News he said: “I know Tarkowski and those guys, they will take pride in stopping Manchester City and Haaland.
“You speak highly of him, you don’t speak in a derogatory way about players and stuff like that.
“But that’s the challenge, if you want to get anything out of a game against Manchester City, the number one priority you’ve got to stop first isn’t [Kevin] De Bruyne, it’s not [Phil] Foden, it’s not Rodri or [Jack] Grealish.
“You know who it is, it’s the main man, Haaland.
“So I think as a defender, and as a team, Tarkowski as a centre-half, England international, in his head he’s thinking, ‘These are the guys I want to pit my wits against, these are the guys I want to stop’.
“Because if you stop a Haaland scoring your stock rises, because there aren’t many teams who do that.
“So as a centre-half you make your name that way.”
Despite missing City’s win over Leicester at the weekend (29 October) with injury Haaland already has 17 Premier League goals this year.
He is due to face Everton on New Year’s Eve before visiting Goodison Park for the third-last game of the season (13 May), but the Toffees defence has improved massively this season and the goals conceded record is only bettered by the teams in first, second and fourth place.
While last season the fans, and to some extent the players, would have been dreading the prospect of facing a forward who looks set to break numerous scoring records, this year things are very different.
Tarkowski and Conor Coady have made a huge difference since their summer arrivals and will be a big part of the plan to stop the Norwegian.