James Tarkowski has issued a stark warning to his team-mates ahead of next season after Everton narrowly avoided a first relegation in 72 years.
The Blues posted the lowest equivalent points total in their 135-year history in the Football League/Premier League and were one goal away from going down for the first time since 1951 before a 57th-minute strike gave them the victory over Bournemouth they required to secure survival on the final day of the campaign.
Everton’s match-winner against the Cherries, Abdoulaye Doucoure, is one of seven players within Sean Dyche’s squad to have been previously relegated from the Premier League (Watford, 2020) alongside Michael Keane (Burnley, 2015); Idrissa Gueye (Aston Villa, 2016); Jordan Pickford (Sunderland, 2017); Ben Godfrey (Norwich City, 2020) plus Dwight McNeil and Tarkowski himself (Burnley, 2022), and after being relieved not to have suffered the drop in consecutive seasons, the centre-back has demanded improvements at Goodison Park.
