James Tarkowski has been practically ever-present for Everton this season – and the defender is said to be the best in the Premier League at doing one specific thing in games.
The Englishman has once again been an important player for the Toffees, missing just one match all season so far.
That came against Arsenal a few weeks ago due to an injury.
James Tarkowski perhaps hasn’t quite been at the same level as he has in previous seasons. Indeed, Michael Ball recently said Tarkowski has been ‘overzealous’ at times this season.
But he remains vital in the eyes of David Moyes and is in no imminent danger of dropping out of the starting XI.
And if that did happen, then Everton would lose a major threat on throws into the opposition box.
James Tarkowski claps the Everton fans.
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
An interesting piece has emerged in The Athletic regarding the new trend of long throw-ins.
It seems that every team in the league now has a long throw specialist, with these scenarios seen as opportunities to score goals perhaps in the same way as corners.
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Everton are no different, but the Toffees do have a big weapon in Tarkowski.
The centre-back has actually been revealed by this article from The Athletic as having won the most ‘first contacts’ from long throws into the box.
Most ‘first contact’ wins in opposition box from throw-ins
1. James Tarkowski – 18
2. Maxence Lacroix – 17
3. Dan Ballard – 12
4. Sepp van den Berg – 11
5. Marcos Senesi – 11
He’s got to 18 balls so far this term, which makes him statistically the league’s best at winning the first contact in the opposition box.
Interestingly, when it comes to defending throw-ins, it’s actually Igor Thiago who is top of the pile.
Tarkowski should score more goals
He may be top of the pile when it comes to first contacts in the opposition box, but Tarkowski has only scored one goal this season.
And that came against his former club Burnley a few weeks ago at Hill Dickinson Stadium, from a James Garner free-kick.
As big a handfuls as he currently is from long throws, there is perhaps an argument to say that Tarkowski should score more in those situations.
That said, it is difficult to generate power, especially if the ball hasn’t come in flat.
But certainly, it’s promising that he’s getting to these kinds of balls and perhaps it should be on other players to get around him for potential flick-ons.
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