James Tarkowski ‘issue’ raised in Everton vs West Ham, David Moyes to ‘have a word’
James Tarkowski has been a rock at the back for Everton so far this season.
Everton have been without Jarrad Branthwaite, as he was injured in the pre-season friendly against Roma, and has not returned to action.
Michael Keane has stepped up for Everton in the 23-year-old’s absence, and he opened the scoring in the clash with West Ham.
However, it is not all rosy for the Toffees, despite their positive start against the Hammers, who were managed by Nuno Espirito Santo for the first time against Everton.
New Everton issue raised on James Tarkowski
Everton star Tarkowski was hailed for his performance against Liverpool, but he is also capable of heart-stopping moments when he is already on a yellow card.
However, he seems to have a knack of avoiding red cards after being cautioned, being handed a booking on 64 occasions without being dismissed.
Adrian Durham and Danny Murphy think that could be an issue for the Toffees, and believe that Tarkowski was lucky not to see red already against the Hammers.
Speaking on talkSPORT on 29 September (20:51), Durham said: “I think there’s a little bit of an issue possibly with Tarkowski, who by the way never gets sent off.
“He hasn’t been sent off for 10 years. He always gets yellow-carded, but never gets sent off. He’s one of those players, but shortly after the yellow card foul, he committed another foul, and the referee kind of looked at him as if to say, you’re not going to get many more of those.”
Murphy replied, saying: “Well, he plays the nice guy quite well.”
Durham then asked: “Yeah, he does, but is that something David Moyes might have to think about second half, because he can’t afford to go down to 10?”
To which Murphy responded, saying: “I think he’ll have a word with him, but Tarkowski’s a shrewd guy. I mean, he’ll know he’ll have to be careful now, even if he goes and pulls out, you know, he can’t take that risk, because if he ever can go down to 10, you don’t want that.”
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Everton need Tarkowski to stay on the pitch
If the Blues are to win against the Irons, they cannot afford for the ex-Burnley man to be sent off and go down to ten men.
He has an unbelievable record so far, in terms of being booked without being sent off, but surely that has to come to an end at some point.
- Tarkowski has played 308 Premier League matches
- He has never been sent off, even when on a yellow card
- The yellow against West Ham was his first this season
Moyes will hope it is not this time, as his side need a victory, having not won in their last three matches, including a dismal Carabao Cup exit to Wolves last time out.
Tarkowski is on a yellow after a foul on Fullkrug, and he needs to be careful as the Toffees attempt to fight back to take all three points.
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