James Tarkowski spoke about the final week of the transfer window and a big week on the field for Everton following the 4-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur
James Tarkowski is hoping Everton can avoid any late sales of their stars in the final week of the summer transfer window. Ahead of Saturday’s 4-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur, Sean Dyche warned that the position of the club’s finances ensured any serious offers for his players before deadline day would have to be considered
But Tarkowski wants all of the current group to stick together to help them starting climbing the table.
The centre-back, who again captained the Blues against Spurs in Seamus Coleman’s absence. said: “I think I’ve been involved in many transfers windows when there is a speculation.
“I think at times, people move on and people stay. I hope that all our players stay here, and we bring a few more faces in, so we’ve got a strong squad and competition.
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“But yes, that’s out of our control. We had a strong team out there (at Tottenham) and as I say, we’ve got a few more faces back. We’ve got real competition for places and hopefully performances improve.” Following their 6-0 mauling at Chelsea on April 15, Everton then went on to win three home games in the space of a week and preserve their Premier League status for another season.
And with back-to-back fixtures now coming up at Goodison Park against League Two Doncaster Rover in the Carabao Cup and then Bournemouth next Saturday, Tarkowski is determined to turn things around.
He said: “I’ve been through a lot of challenges in my time at this football club.
“I’ve only been here a couple of years, so I know what we need to do. We just get back out there on that pitch and work hard again.
“Prepare for the game properly like we will do. I’m very hopeful that performances and results will pick up.
“Every team goes through phases in the season when they’re not winning games. We started slow last season and we finished with a decent point total, considering all the challenges we went through so there’s no reason why we can’t do that again this year.
Tarkowski added: “It’s a good week for us, a cup game at home and then Bournemouth. Hopefully, we get three points there and then we go into the international break with a bit of positivity and get a few faces back.”
Spurs were gifted their second goal when goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s loose first touch from Tarkowski’s back pass presented their captain Heung-Min Son with a simple chance to score.
But given the goalkeeper’s repeated heroics for Everton in recent years, Tarkowski believes his team-mate should be forgiven for a solitary error. He said: “I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my time.
“He’s been our best player for many years, even before I was here. So, I think if anyone’s allowed to make a mistake, it’s Jordan.
“I can only talk on Jordan that I’ve known for the last few years. He’s man enough to hold his hand up when he makes a mistake.
“As I said, he’s been outstanding in my time and even before that. We all make mistakes, and Jordan did today, he held his hand up.
“Jordan’s one of the people who will be vocal, and there’s many of us within that group. We need to be doing that over the next week and beyond that.
“It’s been a tough start, it has. We have to accept that as a group, that we’ve not been good enough so far, because to concede seven and not score is not performing.”