Troy Deeney believes Everton have had a good season that has largely gone unnoticed and thinks James Tarkowski has been central to it
James Tarkowski celebrates scoring with his teammates during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Everton at Selhurst Park. Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
James Tarkowski celebrates scoring with his teammates during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Everton at Selhurst Park. Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images
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Everton have not received the plaudits they deserve for a “fantastic” season according to player-turned-pundit Troy Deeney.
The former goalscorer, who selects a team of the week for BBC Sport, included James Tarkowski in his XI for the past weekend after his goal and wider display in the 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace.
In doing so, he hailed Tarkowski as one of the driving forces of a campaign from the Blues that he believes has gone under the radar.
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Deeney wrote of the Everton stand-in captain: “A goal and an assist in a big centre-half performance at Crystal Palace. Everton have been quietly punching under the surface and he has been a big reason why their season has been fantastic.”
Tarkowski, this week named Everton's PFA Community Champion for his work with Everton in the Community, opened the scoring when he finished at the back post after just six minutes at Selhurst Park. His ball over the top in the opening seconds of the second half was then latched on to by Beto, who held off the attention of Maxence Lacroix before twisting the defender and slotting past Dean Henderson.
Goals from Ismaila Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta prevented Everton from leaving south London with a win that would have taken them to the cusp of Europe but, after successive seasons worrying about events at the bottom end of the table, Deeney appeared to agree with David Moyes’ post-match comment that to be in contention at this late stage of the season was an achievement.
The Blues boss said after the game: “I've got to the stage now where I'm saying: ‘Isn't it great that, imagine talking about ever being in Europe after the years we've had recently.’
“This time last year I think most of the questions were that we were going to lose 12 players and were about to leave Goodison and moving to a new stadium - how do you think this is going to be?
“In truth, we've not had the word relegation too close to us most of the year. I don't necessarily see that as success, but I see it from where Everton have come from. I see that it's been certainly a step up. And I've enjoyed talking about Europe, because it's making the supporters dream again and me hopeful that maybe it can happen again. As you know, I've done it at West Ham, so I was hoping that I could get to a level where we could try and be competitive again at the European level. It has not gone yet, but it's certainly drifting a wee bit away from us at the moment.”
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