The general view of Burnley as a long-ball outfit meant that the logic behind Gareth Southgate’s decision to hand James Tarkowski a first England call-up last week was not immediately obvious. After all, what hope could there ever be for an unheralded defender from one of the Premier League’s more direct teams when Southgate has cast Manchester United’s Chris Smalling into the international wilderness because he is not good enough on the ball?
Appearances can be deceptive, however, because while the focus for Tarkowski has been on getting the basics right this season, he possesses a pedigree as a passer. “Maybe some of you have written that I’m an old-fashioned English defender but before I joined Burnley no one ever said those words about me,” the 25-year-old said at St George’s Park. “I was more a ball-playing centre-half, playing out from the back in a Brentford team that took a lot of chances.”
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