The ECHO takes a detailed look at the immense role James Tarkowski has played since signing for Everton and the value he holds at Finch Farm and beyond after the centre back passed 150 games for the Blues
James Tarkowski celebrates victory after the Premier League match between Everton and Chelsea at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
James Tarkowski celebrates victory after the Premier League match between Everton and Chelsea at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
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When James Tarkowski wheeled away with joy after opening Everton’s account against Burnley last month, he cupped his ears in celebration.
Outside the dressing rooms of Hill Dickinson Stadium later that night, he admitted he was unsure why he went for that reaction - one that replicated his response in front of the Gwladys Street when he etched his name in Everton folklore by lashing home the stoppage time equaliser that denied Liverpool a win in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
Both Tarkowski and David Moyes appeared to reach a similar conclusion - that it was the 33-year-old’s answer to his manager’s pleas for more goals. Given this header set up a first home win in eight and left Everton well-positioned for a tilt at Europe, one they have since built on with the recent hammering of Chelsea, it was a big goal from a player who has been vital to the three managers he has played for since he arrived at Everton in the summer of 2022.
Having just passed the 150 appearance landmark, here the ECHO examines the importance of a player whose career in Royal Blue has spanned the transition from the ownership of Farhad Moshiri to the Friedkin Group, from one home in Goodison to the new base on the banks of the Mersey, and from relegation scraps to, with seven games to go, a fight for Europe.
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It was as a Burnley player that Tarkowski was first drawn into the power of Everton. Weeks before his arrival, the Clarets had been fighting the Blues in a relegation showdown that, for Everton, only ended with that dramatic comeback win over Crystal Palace in the final days of the campaign.
The players in that game were welcomed to Goodison by a phenomenal coach welcome, a set piece that became a feature of the survival battle that season under Frank Lampard. The additional heart it appeared to give the squad in those last games did not go unnoticed by the players of rival clubs in that scrap, Tarkowski included.
When the centre back made his Everton debut against Chelsea the following August, following another coach welcome, it was his turn to feel the positive effect of a passionate fanbase that had rediscovered its voice. Speaking in the tunnel of the Grand Old Lady, he told the ECHO: "It was a special experience. I put my phone down and just made sure I took it all in. To see the amount of people out there cheering us on was just special. Fair play to the fans because they are really right behind us. Hopefully it will stay like that."
Tarkowski was the first signing of former director of football Kevin Thelwell. He may well have been his best, particularly given the competition Everton faced for a player who was available on a free and who emerged as a talisman at a time when the club needed leaders. The battle was fierce, with Aston Villa and Newcastle United among the rival Premier League clubs courting a centre back who would have been an asset to most sides in the top flight.
He had been identified at the top of the Blues’ wishlist before the end of the campaign but Tarkowski, known for his professionalism, would not consider his future while Burnley’s fate lay in the balance. When that came, Everton’s willingness to respect those wishes put the club in a strong position that was built on by Lampard. The former Chelsea star embarked on a personal bid to convince Tarkowski to move to Merseyside and their conversations were key.
For Thelwell and his recruitment team, the defender was a player who had the potential to knit together what the director of football was attempting to build in his first transfer window at Everton. That summer, the club courted young talent that was deemed affordable but which had a high ceiling - future stars whose reputations would grow with that of the club. Although the short-term future would be tough, history looks favourably upon the decisions made at the time. Dwight McNeil was crucial to Everton in the difficult times that followed, James Garner has just been called up to England after a breakthrough Premier League campaign and Amadou Onana, who was sold to Villa for profit at a time when the club needed the money, will play a central role to Belgium’s World Cup aspirations.
They all signed that summer but the plan was to balance their youth with experience and Tarkowski, a centre back with years of Premier League football, an international call-up and known behind-the-scenes for being a leader and a positive role model, was seen as vital to making the project succeed. All of those qualities have since proved important at Finch Farm, Goodison Park and Hill Dickinson.
One of the main attractions was his durability - Everton fell into trouble the previous season partly because of an injury crisis at the back. Even in that debut against Chelsea, Tarkowski would go on to see the two centre backs who started alongside him, Ben Godfrey and Yerry Mina, suffer injuries that would rule them out for months.
It proved to be an astute move - other than the final weeks of last season, which Tarkowski missed after pulling a hamstring against Manchester City, he had been ever-present until his absence for the trip to Arsenal in March. He made an immediate return to the starting XI despite what had been an excellent defensive performance without him - a move vindicated by his role in the 3-0 win over Chelsea before the international break. That call highlighted the value he holds to Moyes who, when asked to sum up Tarkowski’s importance, recently told the ECHO: “I think Tarky is a really good leader. He trains really well every day. He's a big example to the players in how he prepares himself and gets himself ready for the games. He has lots of really good strengths - he's got some weaknesses as well - but, overall, since I've come in, certainly he's been very good.”
He was 'good' before Moyes’ return to Everton in the January of 2025, too. The foundation Tarkowski has provided Everton through recent seasons has been crucial to the Blues surviving as a Premier League club through years of turmoil on and off the pitch.
Under Lampard, Tarkowski partnered Conor Coady to initially bring back the feel-good factor to the club, the pair looked on fondly as the ‘dads’ of the camp by their teammates. When that season turned into another scrap for survival, one that ended with the final game of the season with the dramatic win over Bournemouth, Tarkowski was standing tall amongst the ruins of another Everton team decimated by injury. His towering header had provided Dyche with a win in his first game in charge, against Arsenal, a moment that injected belief when all had seemingly been lost amid the on and off pitch turbulence that marked the end of Lampard’s reign.
Tarkowski has a taste for statement moments. There was that match winner against Arsenal in February 2023. There was that thumping volley against Liverpool last season. Between those highlights there were the clean sheets that he, Jordan Pickford and typically Jarrad Branthwaite collected that proved to be the difference between survival and relegation. It was that axis that provided the basis for the defensive resilience under Dyche that allowed Everton to overcome two unprecedented points deductions and, tellingly, months after Moyes took over, it was that three-man partnership he identified as the core that he would model a new-look squad around as the money of TFG made ambition possible again.
When Everton defeated Dyche’s new - now former - side Nottingham Forest at the City Ground days after Christmas, a centre back pairing of Tarkowski and Jake O’Brien repelled 52 crosses as the Blues box was bombarded from out wide. Dyche later allowed himself a rueful smile when asked by the ECHO about the dominance of a defensive unit he had helped to build but could not break down.
On the banks of the Trent, Tarkowski was partnered with O’Brien but the majority of this season has been spent alongside Michael Keane. Explaining what it was like to work alongside him, the defender, who played with Tarkowski at Burnley, revealed his teammate was more tactical than he is given credit for.
Speaking to the ECHO at Finch Farm last week, Keane said: “I love playing next to him. We go a long way back and he's a good friend of mine, too, so I do enjoy that. When you're playing with him he'll help you out and he'll talk tactics as well. He's quite tactical actually, he'll tell the midfielders at half-time what he thinks they should be doing better positionally and things like that, which is really good, so I really enjoy it.”
With Branthwaite and O’Brien emerging as major talents at centre back behind Tarkowski and Keane, there may come a time when the pair move to supporting acts, a role they will take on with professionalism. That change is not on Moyes’ radar yet, though, which is testament to how well both are doing given the talent that has emerged around them. Indeed, one of the club’s first moves after the summer transfer window closed was to seal Tarkowski’s future - he signed a two year extension in October.
It was an important development for Moyes, the latest manager to come to value Tarkowski and trust him on and off the pitch. He has continued to ask him to captain the side when Seamus Coleman is not involved, a role Tarkowski takes on with pride.
His presence is appreciated by Coleman too. Over the low points of recent seasons, the Republic of Ireland international has shouldered the heavy responsibility of being the conduit between the dressing room and the stands, a rare player in modern football whose influence is unquestioned among his teammates and his club’s supporters.
The biggest compliment afforded to Tarkowski as the ECHO sought insight into his importance came from Coleman, who said his leadership qualities had taken some of the pressure off his shoulders. Coleman said: “He's led the lads on the pitch for the last couple of years when I have not been there and he's been incredible.
“I take great pride in being fit to help them along the way and [we have] great leaders now and Tarky is an immense leader.”
He is ambitious, too, a trait also identified by Thelwell’s team as they sought to convince him to join Everton. After helping Everton through the tough times, he is on the cusp of helping the club to a return to Europe - something that was on Tarkowski’s mind even back in October. He said at the time: "It's always been an ambition of mine to play European football. I had a brief spell with Burnley in the qualifiers but we didn't make it to the group stages, so I want to get there.
"It's the manager's goal, it's our goal as a team and, so far, we've started pretty well. Of course, it could have been better but we've had a decent start and we're definitely striving to get into those European spots and bring European football to our new stadium." Six months later, and with the help of countless clean sheets and that goal against Burnley, that target is within touching distance.
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