Burnley v Everton Carabao Cup tie: James Tarkowski makes a “very different” revelation

James Tarkowski of Everton is getting ready to play against a “very different” Burnley team than the one he played for when he returns to Goodison Park for the Carabao Cup match.

When James Tarkowski was playing for Everton at Goodison Park the previous time Burnley visited, Gary Neville accused him of making a tackle that “has no place in football.”

The date was September 13, and Everton defeated Sean Dyche’s Clarets 3-1 to record their first and only three-game winning streak. Referee Martin Atkinson didn’t even give a free kick after Tarkowski’s second-half challenge in front of the away fans won the ball but also got a good piece of Richarlison in the process. Sky Sports analyst Neville called it “reckless.”

At the time, it was the kind of moment that summed up the player, manager, and squad. Though the former Blues manager will always be remembered for reviving the once-proud East Lancashire town and reintroducing it to the football world through “The Royal Dyche” pub, things have changed in terms of on-field issues. Burnley, under Vincent Kompany’s direction, shot straight back up to the Premier League this season, playing more like the Manchester City teams he played for than the more conventional fare at Turf Moor.

Currently serving as Everton’s armband while club captain Seamus Coleman is out due to injury, Tarkowski is one of Dyche’s most reliable lieutenants. So who would he prefer take on, Burnley the old or Burnley the new, as he gets ready to play against the team he spent six and a half years representing? “We were a completely different side,” he declared. When we played the way we did at the time, we were quite successful.

“The new look is radically dissimilar. I wouldn’t claim that I would decide between the two.

They have their own method, and we followed our own, which proved to be very successful.

“I believe that manager Dyche was and is still well regarded there. We were supposed to collapse every season we played at Burnley, yet for seven seasons we didn’t.

That demonstrated the level of success we had there. I don’t believe people look back at the Dyche era and say it’s any better now that it’s a completely new time and they’re trying their own tactics. It was changing times at that club; the manager left, and they immediately rose above such a tough league.

Even though Burnley fired Dyche on April 15, 2022, following nine and a half years in leadership, the team was unable to avert relegation. However, with 101 points in the previous season, they easily won the Championship championship under new manager Kompany. However, the Premier League has proven to be more tougher than expected. They come into their Carabao Cup meeting at Goodison Park on Wednesday ranked second from the bottom with four points from ten games, having lost 2-1 to fellow struggling team Bournemouth on Saturday.

“I went to watch them last year and they were exceptional,” Tarkowski remarked. They virtually destroyed every squad they faced in the Championship.

“They’ve had a difficult start to the season, but that’s perhaps to be expected given the entirely different level. They’ve probably only had one win thus far, so I’m sure they’ll be viewing this one as a huge opportunity to try and earn another.

“I believe they are less experienced than we were. We had a couple more experienced players on the squad, but they proved last year in the Championship, a very tough league, with their play and the number of points they scored. I have no doubt they will score more points. However, that’s only a step up, and right now it seems like they’re being punished.

Everton is only three points behind Brentford in tenth place and five points clear of the relegation zone after winning four of their past six games across all competitions. Tarkowski believes that things are finally going in the right way at Goodison after a few trying seasons both on and off the field. He also maintains that the team is not dwelling on any penalties related to the club’s profit and sustainability charge. “It’s about dealing with that and coping with that,” he added. “Burnley was an underdog tale every season, whereas here there was a lot more expectation. Fortunately I have experience on my side so I have found ways of dealing with those pressures and hopefully helping the people around as well. There is a big expectation here and rightly so.

“It’s not hefty; the manager mentions rewriting the narrative here. This club has seen some stormy times in the last few seasons, and we want to turn the tide and return the team to where they belong and are expected to be.

As I believe I’ve persevered through years of relegation struggles, including the most recent season, I try not to obsess over outcomes and punish myself. The guys don’t even talk about the points deduction because it is something completely outside of our control.

We don’t need to discuss it because it is outside of our control; we just focus on football. We are here to perform our job, which is to enter the pitch and score points, regardless of what occurs in the future.

There have been games where things could have gone our way but didn’t, so hopefully in closer games we’ll have a little more luck on our side and get the lucky break. Over the season, performances have been largely consistent, and the results are finally being seen.

Naturally, the match is Everton’s first home game following Bill Kenwright’s passing, and Tarkowski anticipates that the Blues supporters will honor the longtime chairman of the team with a worthy send-off. “I understand his importance to this football team,” he remarked.

Since I’ve been here, it’s been challenging to be in any kind of relationship because he was going through a lot personally. I’ve talked to the guys who have been here, like Seamus and Jordan, and I know who he was as a person and how much this club meant to him after hearing those stories. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a lovely memorial.