Seems everyone is talking about the pen but not enough about how fantastic Tarky played on his debut.

Am I missing a post somewhere?

I wouldn't say he was fantastic. 6/10 performance.

SalouClaret wrote:I wouldn't say he was fantastic. 6/10 performance.

wow that's harsh

1st game for England and didn't put a foot wrong for 99% of the game and some lovely passes at least a 7.5/10

He was excellent with the ball. Playing on the wrong side too. A cracking debut slightly tarnished by an iffy decision.

You know what I'm raising it to 8.5/10

I thought he was excellent and he was the only one talking to his mascot as well, lovely guy.

I'm just looking at it without claret tinted specs on. Also seen 2 other articles giving him 6/10 including the bbc.

Claret82 wrote:wow that's harsh

1st game for England and didn't put a foot wrong for 99% of the game and some lovely passes at least a 7.5/10

He put at least one foot wrong according to VAR and a German!

Claret82 wrote:You know what I'm raising it to 8.5/10

I thought he was excellent and he was the only one talking to his mascot as well, lovely guy.

I noticed that too. He also appeared to be the one taking initiative and giving direction to his fellow defenders.

cricketfieldclarets wrote:He put at least one foot wrong according to VAR and a German!

That's the 1%

He’s going to Russia.

I see Laura Bassett rates Tarky's performance as a 5 on Sky's website. Mike's daughter clearly learnt a lot from her Dad.

Again the media will only look at one moment in the game .

But to be very fair how many pens has he given away this season , I would say he is up near the top unwanted league in the Prem .

Notice they misread his comment about it never being a penalty. I read it as him saying tongue in cheek that whenever he gives away a penalty it never is in his eyes.

cricketfieldclarets wrote:He put at least one foot wrong according to VAR and a German!

should've had a Russian linesman!

6 for me too
Got pulled out of position a couple of times, also gave the ball away trying a through ball ( didn't cost us, but can at this level )
But as debuts go at Wembley against the Italians, having only trained with the squad a week and playing on the "wrong side" I think he did ok.
The penalty will go against him, which is extremely harsh, as there were 3 of them around him, with not 1 actually putting a challenge in of any sort, however Tarky was dragged way over in the Walker role.

Least we can sing "you let your country down" every week now ...........JOKE

Think 7.5 is s reasonable score - his passing was excellent throughout, he defended well and did a lot of organising - all whilst out of position and in a system he's not used to

As for the 'penalty' - at least Southgate could see it wasn't a pen and he's the one that matters

Think he has a decent outside chance of going to Russia now. Shame Pope will have to rely on injuries now

For his first cap a very mature and creditable performance... head and shoulders above Stones in my view.He should be played in his club position I reckon.
I think if he carries on playing as he has been for the remaining games he will make the squad.

From what I saw of the first half he did well playing alongside a defender who wasn't having a great game.

We can't expect him to carry Stones aswell.

6 out of 10 is a fair score. He should be going to Russia, nothing spectacular but was solid enough at the back and made some good forward passes and only a couple of stray ones which will sit well with the way Southgate wants them to play. Stones looked like the debutant early on.

I think he did well overall. He is a very confident lad and his passing is outstanding for a cb, although he takes risks. He is also a leader.

I feel that he should have been in the middle and Stones wider. Future England captain?

Tarks was fine in a very shaky back 3. Stones had to be the best footballing, worst ever defender and the pen was hanging on to the Italians arm after he lost possession in the pen area.

Tarks adding was accurate. Yes it was a pen on the replay...eventually - if the ref spots it and asks....which he didn't. Accidental. 7/10.

Did well, a 7/10 to be honest.

But its the penalty decision that people will remember sadly

He's probably done himself no harm at all about going to Russia, but with Walker impressing in both games there are a limited amount of centre half slots available and I'm not sure he's going to go.

Very nice passes, and he certainly could go as a reasonable option to also cover the DMC slot with his range of passing

I think that, overall he did well. If that game had not had VAR, I doubt that the Pen would’ve been given, so I think he can count himself a little unlucky. He didn’t look out of place in the team and, providing his form stays where it is and he remains injury free, he could well be on the plane to Russia.

Without VAR intervention he'd be getting 7's and 8's in the media. Unfortunately the penalty has dropped him to a 6 with most and even a 5 from Sky Sports (which is incredibly harsh!). I thought he did very well and he can count himself very unlucky, especially as Stones got away with a more blatant penalty in the first half! I have a feeling it could cost him his place in Russia. A big shame for him if it does.

7 from me. His passing was crisp and accurate apart from the one very poor pass, where he tried to thread the needle and was intercepted in a dangerous position. More than made up for by the peach he fed through to Lingard. On a number of occasions he was the first man back covering when Stones and Walker got caught on the ball. None of Italy's chances, in open play were down to him and the pen is a 50/50 call but not for me.

I thought Tarky had a very sound debut. I'd sooner see him playing on the right side of a back three but he looked very comfortable and composed. I think he did enough to show he belongs at this level.

What I found baffling was the eventual penalty decision. He gave a goal kick but the Italians wanted a corner, (not one of them asked for a penalty) so he obliged. Nothing from the linesman and all of a sudden he wants to check the video.
Very strange indeed.

ashtonlongsider wrote:I'd sooner see him playing on the right side of a back three but he looked very comfortable and composed.

I agree ashton. The thing is to accommodate Walker in a back 3 Southgate is forced to play him on the right of the 3 which then pushes Tarks to the left. You're then left with two players out of their natural position which, at international level, seems a wee bit strange to me.

"Nothing spectacular "

To my mind Tarkowski played one spectacular throughball to Vardy 1st half which Vardy should have done better with, which at 1st the commentating team got wrong and attributed the pass to Stones, that is until they saw the replay

I agree he had a sound debut but he wasn't really tested by the Italians. He had no-one specifically to mark and he wasn't pressurised too much when he was on the ball.

I discount the penalty as that couldn't be helped but he gave the ball away poorly a couple of times, although he also made an excellent pass for the first Vardy chance.

Overall I don't think he is yet up to international standard as far as ball playing is concerned. I reckon he would be exposed if he was put under more pressure.

bob-the-scutter wrote:What I found baffling was the eventual penalty decision. He gave a goal kick but the Italians wanted a corner, (not one of them asked for a penalty) so he obliged. Nothing from the linesman and all of a sudden he wants to check the video.
Very strange indeed.

I think it was the '3rd umpire' that brought it to his attention through his earpiece and asked him to review it.

I only saw the first-half.

Thought he did pretty well all things considered. He can't be blamed for Immobile being all alone with Italy's only chance in the first 45. He was the nearest to the player who crossed and it was up to Walker or Stones to mark Immobile but they hadn't a clue where he was.

He's not used to playing in a back three which didn't make things easy for him.

His distribution was pretty good. I suspect Southgate told him to keep it simple.

Southgate's no prat and neither is he a kneejerker so I doubt very much that the penalty will be an issue.

karatekid wrote:I think it was the '3rd umpire' that brought it to his attention through his earpiece and asked him to review it.

That's him - I think there is going to be some real fun with VAR in the World Cup

I am more surprised how much praise Walker has been getting. his lapses in defence gave away two clear opportunities for the italians and it was on his side that the penalty was given. I was shocked when they mentioned him as the potential MoM in commentary.

I suspect the first choice will be Walker, Stones and Maguire with Dier able to drop back. Gomez, Jones, Tarkowski and possibly Keane or Cahill (if they can get playing with any kind of quality again) are probably looking at one, maybe two, places between them. Gomez seems to be the favourite so it may come down to how many places are up for grabs.