Tarkowski relishing the dying art

Defending is becoming 'a dying art', according to Sean Dyche.
Blackburn Rovers' Marcus Antonsson and Burnley's James Tarkowski

Photographer Stephen White/CameraSport

The Carabao Cup - Blackburn Rovers v Burnley - Wednesday 23rd August 2017 - Ewood Park - Blackburn
 
World Copyright © 2017 CameraSport. All rights reserved. 43 Linden Ave. Countesthorpe. Leicester. England. LE8 5PG - Tel: +44 (0) 116 277 4147 - admin@camerasport.com - www.camerasport.comBlackburn Rovers' Marcus Antonsson and Burnley's James Tarkowski

Photographer Stephen White/CameraSport

The Carabao Cup - Blackburn Rovers v Burnley - Wednesday 23rd August 2017 - Ewood Park - Blackburn
 
World Copyright © 2017 CameraSport. All rights reserved. 43 Linden Ave. Countesthorpe. Leicester. England. LE8 5PG - Tel: +44 (0) 116 277 4147 - admin@camerasport.com - www.camerasport.com
Blackburn Rovers' Marcus Antonsson and Burnley's James Tarkowski Photographer Stephen White/CameraSport The Carabao Cup - Blackburn Rovers v Burnley - Wednesday 23rd August 2017 - Ewood Park - Blackburn World Copyright © 2017 CameraSport. All rights reserved. 43 Linden Ave. Countesthorpe. Leicester. England. LE8 5PG - Tel: +44 (0) 116 277 4147 - [email protected] - www.camerasport.com

But while Michael Keane learned to love the basics under the Clarets boss, he feels James Tarkowski can also flourish.

Playing out from the back is prevalent in the modern game, and Keane and Tarkowski are more than capable of showing their composure on the ball.

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But Tarkowski showed against Crystal Palace that he relishes repelling the ball away from his own goal with a 2017 Premier League-high 18 clearances.

Dyche said: “Defending is a dying art, and I think it’s a massively important part of the game. You can ask coaches across the country, the one thing they’re struggling for is defenders who can defend and want to defend.

“We’ve definitely worked on that with all our centre halves, I know Tarky can play, we know we can play more than we did on Sunday as a collective, and he’ll play his part in that. But his defending, the little details I look for in a defender, as with Keano, Ben Mee, Longy, even Duffo – we were still talking to him about details when he was 36,37 – I have a lot of belief in our defenders defending, and Tarky was a good show of that.”

Meanwhile, Tarkowski feels Burnley’s start has fuelled the club’s confidence.

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Burnley’s away form has been the complete antithesis of last term.

It took until April, a goalless draw against Middlesbrough at the Riverside, for the Clarets to accumulate four points on the road last season.

They only won their first away game at the penultimate attempt at Crystal Palace later that month.

However, heading in to Saturday’s game at Liverpool, Dyche’s side already have four points from games against Chelsea and Spurs.

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Tarkowski said: “It’s been good. Obviously we’ve had two tough away games, so to come away with four points is nice.

“It’s nice to get them out of the way early doors, and hopefully we can keep picking up a few points away from home.

“Let’s go there and see what we can do.We’re confident.

“We’ve picked up seven points so far, and four of them have been away from home. The lads are in good spirits and we’ll go there full of confidence.

“It’s the complete opposite from last year so it’s nice to have them points on the board. We’ve got to stick at it because it’s a long season so we’ve got to keep working hard.”