James Tarkowski has stated that he has no remorse about his choice to join Everton last summer, even though there was a danger of experiencing back-to-back relegations, writes the F365.
Tarkowski, Frank Lampard’s initial summer signing in June, moved to Goodison Park on a free transfer from Burnley, where his final season ended with relegation to the Championship. Despite things not going as planned at Everton and Burnley returning to the Premier League, Tarkowski insisted he would not change his decision, stating to the Liverpool Echo, “My focus is completely on Everton and I don’t regret joining this club, for sure.” When questioned about the lessons he could draw from his time fighting the drop with Burnley, he replied, “Not panicking too much and becoming too obsessed with other teams and what their results are and just trying to focus on us.”
“I have said it for the last few weeks really – if we do our job, we haven’t got to concern ourselves with what other teams are doing. I don’t think we should be looking at other teams hoping they will do us a favour, if it happens that way, fair enough. But we have to focus on ourselves more than anything.”
Following Lampard’s departure, Tarkowski was reunited with his former Burnley manager Sean Dyche, who had been sacked by Burnley in April but brought in as Lampard’s successor in January. According to Tarkowski, during their time at Burnley, Dyche managed a team with a relatively small budget and was expected to face relegation at the beginning of every season, yet he managed to keep them in the league, which demonstrates his capability to do so.
Unfortunately, Everton will have to face their final four matches without captain Seamus Coleman, who sustained an injury during their last game against Leicester, which ended in a 2-2 draw. Although the injury was not as severe as initially feared, it is still a significant setback for the team during a challenging period. Despite being carried off the pitch at the King Power Stadium, the full-back was attempting to motivate his fellow team-mates.