James Tarkowski left stunned by ‘incredible’ Everton teammate Jarrad Branthwaite after what he did v West Ham
Everton defender James Tarkowski has leapt to the praise of teammate Jarrad Branthwaite after his latest stunning performance against West Ham United on Sunday (29 October).
Sean Dyche’s side ran out 1-0 winners at the London Stadium on Sunday (29 October) thanks to a second-half strike from Dominic Calvert-Lewin but the Toffees had Branthwaite and Tarkowski to thank who kept West Ham’s attackers incredibly quiet all game.
And Tarkowski, speaking to Liverpool ECHO (1 November) ahead of their Carabao Cup clash with Burnley picked out one key moment during the West Ham win when he expertly out-ran and nudged Michail Antonio off the ball after facing up against him defending his own goal.
He said: “I don’t worry about him at all.
“I saw Michail Antonio try and run him down the line at the weekend and I just stood where I was meant to be because I knew he’d deal with it.
“His level of performance has been incredible, he shows great maturity already for such a young lad and he’s got all the capabilities to play top level for the rest of his career.”
“He’s not got a whole lot of experience at this level but he’s come into the team and performed so fair play to him. He’s proving that he’s got a lot of qualities to go to the very top so it’s just about him staying consistent with his level of performance and he has done so far.
“He’s way ahead of where I was at that age. What? He’s 21? I was playing League One football so he’s way beyond where I was.”
Wow
Yet another flawless and incredibly gifted young English centre-back has emerged on the scene in Branthwaite and Everton fans and those within the club must be counting their blessings right now and possessing such a talent.
His performance against West Ham United was just another example as to why Branthwaite must be considered one of the best of his age group at centre-back in the Premier League.
However, it’s nothing new as the 21-year-old performed the same way for PSV Eindhoven last season so was always going to make an impression in the Premier League sooner rather than later.
The way in which he’s gone about his business so quickly, though, makes his development and maturity all the more incredible.
So far this season, he’s won 62% of his ground duels, 59% of his aerial duels, averaged 2.1 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per game but his game certainly transcends his defensive abilities with the England under-21 international also so comfortable on the ball.
At his young age, the defender still has plenty of room to grow, and Sean Dyche allowing him to learn and develop his own game without too much of an input overload from the coaching staff will prove to be a huge benefit to the path of his career at Everton.
Wow, what a player.
In other Everton news, Roy Keane blasted one Toffees star after what he did against West Ham.