Confirmed Signing James Tarkowski

[Brett Angell Delight]

He's a better defender than all of our centre-backs apart from Mina.

A very hard comparison to make. Nobody has seen him defend at this level for anybody other than a Burnley side who have (had) a unique way of playing in the PL. He played under very little expectation and certainly had some impressive defensive stats, but his numbers on the ball were woeful.

Obviously I hope you’re right, but my official contribution to the vaults is as follows:

He’ll lose the dogged determination that playing for a team of yard dogs gave him and/or won’t cope with being asked to pass the ball to teammates. We’ll persist in playing him through mistakes and poor form, in the hope that he comes good but he won’t and his player thread on here will be absolutely radioactive by January, calling on us to get rid of him. History will show him as another crap signing, devoid of any imagination or forethought.

 

[Nymzee]

A very hard comparison to make. Nobody has seen him defend at this level for anybody other than a Burnley side who have (had) a unique way of playing in the PL. He played under very little expectation and certainly had some impressive defensive stats, but his numbers on the ball were woeful.

Obviously I hope you’re right, but my official contribution to the vaults is as follows:

He’ll lose the dogged determination that playing a team of yard dogs gave him and/or won’t cope with being asked to pass the ball to teammates. We’ll persist in playing him through mistakes and poor form, in the hope that he comes good but he won’t and his player thread on here will be absolutely radioactive by January, calling on us to get rid of him. History will show him as another crap signing, devoid of any imagination or forethought.

But we have seen all our defenders defend at this level for us and horribly at that.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Still think we'll pay him too much in wages, but I don't think he's an awful player or anything

I just can't help shake the feeling that with some better scouting we could have got comparable talent for less, or currently lower talent for less but with an upside to be potentially better

Going for an out of contract player from a recently relegated PL team just hits me as us not looking beyond the front door for potential signings, which is kind of disappointing. I was really hoping this whole DoF model would lead to us setting up a better scouting system so we weren't just always signing players from the front garden

 

[Brett Angell Delight]

But we have seen all our defenders defend at this level for us and horribly at that.

I couldn’t agree harder if I tried, but go back through the threads of every single disastrous signing we’ve made recently and I guarantee in every one you’ll see the same argument you just made.

“He’s not quite as crap as what we have”

In some cases it proved not to be true and in others, it was valid but not quite as crap still equalled crap.

He played for Burnley. He was rumoured to have attracted interest from big clubs but none ever took the punt on him, I suspect because they were unsure whether a Burnley grock would fit into another PL defence well.

Only one team has been idiotic enough to take a punt on a Burnley grock CB in recent times.

 

[APN_EFC]

A very hard comparison to make. Nobody has seen him defend at this level for anybody other than a Burnley side who have (had) a unique way of playing in the PL. He played under very little expectation and certainly had some impressive defensive stats, but his numbers on the ball were woeful.

Obviously I hope you’re right, but my official contribution to the vaults is as follows:

He’ll lose the dogged determination that playing for a team of yard dogs gave him and/or won’t cope with being asked to pass the ball to teammates. We’ll persist in playing him through mistakes and poor form, in the hope that he comes good but he won’t and his player thread on here will be absolutely radioactive by January, calling on us to get rid of him. History will show him as another crap signing, devoid of any imagination or forethought.

In other words Keane MkII ?

 

[ZissouBlue]

I couldn’t agree harder if I tried, but go back through the threads of every single disastrous signing we’ve made recently and I guarantee in every one you’ll see the same argument you just made.

“He’s not quite as crap as what we have”

In some cases it proved not to be true and in others, it was valid but not quite as crap still equalled crap.

He played for Burnley. He was rumoured to have attracted interest from big clubs but none ever took the punt on him, I suspect because they were unsure whether a Burnley grock would fit into another PL defence well.

Only one team has been idiotic enough to take a punt on a Burnley grock CB in recent times.

True but we also had some pretty credible rumors that a couple of teams had serious interest or put in bids for him, but that Burnley had priced him out of a move. I think it was like 30-40m with two years on his deal...definitely take your point, though. It's a concern.

It is refreshing to see us go get someone we want in early. I know we say it every summer, but it really does help to kick off a transfer window to get one of your targets in early, even if it is a free agent. I'm guessing there were a few other PL teams in for him, so nice to see us get our first target.

 

[Brett Angell Delight]

In other words Keane MkII ?

I don’t recall ever personally seeing Keane as quite so much of a yard dog as I currently perceive Tarkowski to be.

Worryingly, I think I had Keane down as their classy defender.

 

[APN_EFC]

The main problem is that we seem to lurch from super exciting signings to underrated underwhelming signings and nobody really knows what the actual strategy is. He could be a good signing, but we've also seen too many like it - Tosun, Delph, Keane, Walcott - PL players who somehow don't match any long-term vision.

 

[APN_EFC]

I don’t recall ever personally seeing Keane as quite so much of a yard dog as I currently perceive Tarkowski to be.

Worryingly, I think I had Keane down as their classy defender.

Yeah that's also true, though I believe Keane & Tarkowski were the solid pairing during Burnley's 7th place finish? Not that it can repeat itself, just saying they might work together, but hopefully we have a tough CB and a ball playing CB and it's something of a partnership with complementary skills.

 

[Brett Angell Delight]

True but we also had some pretty credible rumors that a couple of teams had serious interest or put in bids for him, but that Burnley had priced him out of a move. I think it was like 30-40m with two years on his deal...definitely take your point, though. It's a concern.

It is refreshing to see us go get someone we want in early. I know we say it every summer, but it really does help to kick off a transfer window to get one of your targets in early, even if it is a free agent. I'm guessing there were a few other PL teams in for him, so nice to see us get our first target.

I should qualify my opinion on this and every other likely transfer by saying that I’ve been Evertoned into unyielding pessimism over the years.

I want to think it’s good that we’re getting the deals done early and then I remember the Summer of the Number Tens.

I want to think that free signings are no-lose and then I remember Bernard.

Ultimately we’ll see, but it just bears too many hallmarks of our usual, lazy recruitment strategy and that’s basically why I’m concerned.

 

[TheBigIguana]

It’s easy to say in hindsight but we’ve literally tried every profile of player recently

Prospects from championship: DCL Holgate Lookman Godfrey

Players not regulars at CL clubs: Digne Gomes Mina James Kean Dele Allan

Players from relegated/ lower prem teams: Keane Pickford Gueye Richarlison Doucoure

Experienced prem players: Williams Schneiderlin Siggurdson Delph Rondon Townsend Iwobi

Unknown non-PL prospects: Gbamin Mykolenko Patterson Vlasic

We’ve literally shopped in all the different markets and not many of them have worked so I’d say it’s something different than the player profile we need to be looking at.

For me it’s more about their application. No one can say that Digne Mina Gomes James Kean Allan Iwobi Lookman didn’t/don’t have ability, but at times their application for Everton was terrible.

If Tarkowski is available for most games each season and is giving his everything when out on the pitch then he’s probably far more useful than Mina was for us. If he’s come here to see out his career and have a holiday with the lads then it’ll be another terrible signing. We won’t know until later though.

Doing something for a year and then doing something else is hardly a philosophy. Really we've tried nothing.

 

[davek]

Dave, he's not a Burnley employee anymore. They have no part to play in this transfer. It's all down to us and the player.

I've been over that. *sigh*

 

[Ghost Rider]

This signing won't be as good as some people think it will be , especially on big wages.

Have we not learned a lesson from the likes of Ashley Williams?

Michael Keane looked a good player at Burnley , personally don't think the fella who replaced him in the team is going to be the defensive leader we need him to be. Hope to be proven wrong but history does seem to repeat itself at goodison.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

I'm fine with anyone who wants to suggest this isn't an especially thrilling acquisition

In the past the "meh" seeming signings invariably turned out to be "meh"

I get being optimistic and whatnot, but I've seen enough Enner Valencia's, Thomas Hitzelsperger's and Fabian Delph's come and go in an Everton shirt to know that if a potential signing gives off unexciting vibes then the vibes are usually fair

 

[davek]

What do you think an acceptable or realistic price is mate, north or south of 80 mill, i know the market is just forming?

I think given that he's cost Everton £50M and he's now a Brazil mainstay and moving into the best years of his career we should really be looking to get no less than £85M-£90M.