Everton defender James Tarkowski gave a brutally honest interview in the wake of the Toffees’ 6-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Cole Palmer hit a perfect first-half hat-trick before converting a penalty as Chelsea hammered a dismal Everton at Stamford Bridge on Monday to move to within three points of a European qualifying spot.
Nicolas Jackson and Alfie Gilchrist were also on target to leave Everton two points above the drop zone. Indeed, it was the first time a Sean Dyche side had conceded six in the Premier League.
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After the game Everton centre-back Tarkowski told Sky Sports that the Chelsea hammering was “the most embarrassed” he has felt in his career.
“[It will] be a long debrief that,” Tarkowski said. “Underperformed, the most embarrassed I have felt as an individual.
“It shows where we are at today. We can only apologise to the fans who supported us. It is on the players, it is not on the manager and the staff. No excuses on our behalf, we need to brush ourselves down as we have a big few weeks coming up.
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“We conceded six goals and you should feel embarrassed. Nothing to do with technical aspects, people getting beat and run off and it is hard to summarise it. I have had dark times here but the fans stick by us in the next game so hopefully they'll be there for us again.”
Meanwhile, Everton boss Dyche labelled it an “ugly” and “dire” night.
He said: "Ugly night collectively, a dire night. Perfect storm that every mistake got punished. The start of the game was spot on and we went after them, there is a strange feeling around Chelsea, could we step on them? We missed a chance straight away.
"People learning and young players learning about football, but you have to get your tackles in, but it was miles off collectively - mildly better in second half. The basics you have got to do the basics and you have got to recover.
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"We were miles away from it tonight, nothing to do with anyone else. We have taken a knock; does it leak into the players? Maybe. When it is collectively and miles away you are looking for a shining light and looking at doing the basics well. Chelsea have spent a lot of money on quality and they showed it tonight, but you cannot give up chances like that.
"We know we are not scoring near enough the goals that we need to, but defensively we have been solid so it is unusual for that to happen. Yes, these are all nervous games. Our fans have been terrific. We have to pay that support back. We cannot feel sorry for ourselves and we have to get on with business."
Topics: Everton, Chelsea, Premier League, Sean Dyche, Cole Palmer