David Moyes has given his thoughts on James Tarkowski’s horror tackle on Alexis Mac Allister, and it’s fair to say most Liverpool fans won’t be in agreement with the Everton manager.
Tarkowski somehow managed to escape a red card after lunging in high on Mac Allister during the first half of the Merseyside derby at Anfield. Sam Barrott chose to show the Everton defender a yellow card, with VAR Paul Tierney deciding not to upgrade it to a sending-off.
The incident proved highly controversial though, with pundits - including Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville - in universal agreement that Tarkowski should have been sent off. The PGMOL has since acknowledged that a mistake was made.
Nevertheless, Moyes - who was left fuming with Liverpool's winner - had a different view of the tackle. "First thought, it was a brilliant tackle for a derby game," the Everton boss said after the game. "A tackle we would have seen a few years ago.
"I understand nowadays things are slightly different with follow-throughs. We might have got a bit lucky, don't put that with the goal because the goal was a different incident that won Liverpool the game."
Despite getting his manager’s backing, Tarkowski went on to apologize to Mac Allister after the game, while also admitting that he may have been lucky to stay on the pitch. The Liverpool midfielder has also broken his silence with a post on social media.
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“Yeah, I spoke to him and apologized because it’s not a great tackle,” Tarkowski said. “When the ball fell between us, I actually thought he was just going to come and I was expecting a big old school 50/50 tackle.
“He just pulled out of the tackle, and as I lunged in, I caught him pretty high, so I’ve apologized to him and he’s accepted it, so yeah, not a great one from me.”
Liverpool.com says: What a strange take from Moyes. It would have been interesting to see what his reaction would have been had Mac Allister not walked away without a serious injury.
To just brush it aside, and suggest that it shouldn’t be mentioned alongside Liverpool’s winner is absolutely wild. It comes across as him suggesting that Tarkowski being sent off wouldn’t have changed the course of the game, which it almost certainly would have. We get his frustration with the goal, but that is just a bizarre way to address what was a horrendous challenge.