‘Lazy’ – MOTD pundit slams Everton star for what he did in loss v Manchester United

Everton defender James Tarkowski has been slammed by Ashley Williams for his “lazy” tackle in the Toffees’ showdown with Manchester United.

Sean Dyche’s side extended their winless run in the Premier League to 11 matches with a 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Saturday (9 March) with both Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford scoring from the penalty spot.

While Everton had plenty of chances to get back into the game, they let themselves down in defence and BBC pundit Williams was quick to criticise Tarkowski for gifting Alejandro Garnacho a spot-kick early in the clash.

Speaking on Match Of The Day (9 March, 29:15) he said: “Now we highlight Garnacho and keep eyes on him. He runs in this inside channel which is a nice clever run, but there’s no danger.

“Tarkowski is just so eager to try and win the ball that he just dangles out a leg which is a little bit lazy defending when he could just keep him where he is and he gives the penalty away.”

Will Everton be relegated from the Premier League after Manchester United defeat?

Everton have found themselves in trouble this season and while off-the-field issues have been blamed for most of the Toffees’ problems, their recent dire form in the Premier League has been incredibly costly.

Dyche’s side seem unable to buy a goal at this moment in time, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin in particular misfiring in the final third. But they haven’t even been able to keep the clean sheets that made them so effective at the start of the season.

Saturday’s defeat saw far too many challenges where players just dangled a foot and hoped for the best, which is something that pundits and supporters won’t have expected from Tarkowski and Ben Godfrey in particular.

Hopefully, the Toffees will put their defensive woes behind them sooner rather than later. If they don’t, they may continue to coast towards the drop and Championship football.