Everton have been dumped out of the FA Cup at the fourth round stage, but David Moyes reserved praise for a player who’s been criticised a lot this season.
The Toffees are now set to focus on the Premier League for the rest of the season, with Bournemouth winning 2-0 at Goodison Park.
There was to be no revenge for the 1-0 result between the two teams at the start of January, and Everton were made to pay for a poor first-half.
Antoine Semeyo put the visitors ahead after James Tarkowski brought him down in the area for a penalty.
Then, a poor Tarkowski clearance led to Daniel Jebbison scoring in scrappy fashion.
Moyes was seen shaking his head with anger at Tarkowski, and it was certainly an afternoon to forget for the 32-year-old.
But there was a positive debut for new signing Carlos Alcaraz, with the Argentine coming off the bench in the second-half. Everton fans praised Alcaraz for his cameo against Bournemouth, and Moyes will find it hard not to start him against Liverpool next week.
Another positive for Everton was the performance of Jack Harrison, who was acknowledged by his manager after the defeat.
David Moyes praises Jack Harrison after Everton defeat to Bournemouth
Jack Harrison has had a poor season for Everton.
A regular under Sean Dyche, fans have often felt that Harrison hasn’t been good enough in the final third – and his tally of zero goals and zero assists is evident of that.
But against Bournemouth, Harrison did make a decent impression coming off the bench in the second-half and after the game, David Moyes actually offered his name in an answer without actually being asked directly about him.
He said: “Actually today I was pleased with Carlos. But I was also pleased with Jack Harrison as well, I thought he put in three or four great deliveries at a time in the game when we needed it.”
As per Sofascore data, in his 25-minute cameo, Harrison won 3/5 duels, completed 8/11 passes (73%) – two of which were ‘key’ – and had 24 touches.
Harrison wants permanent Everton transfer
Harrison has not had the season he will have wanted, but there was an urgency about his cameo yesterday which corroborates a claim made about the player in recent days.
Apparently, Harrison is keen to earn himself a permanent transfer to Everton at the end of the season.
Currently, of course, he is only on loan from Leeds United, as he was last season.
There was some speculation about Harrison towards the end of the transfer window suggesting he might have gone back to Leeds. Fulham were said to be keen on Harrison.
| Jack Harrison for Everton this season |
| Appearances – 23 |
| Minutes played – 1101 |
| Goals – 0 |
| Assists – 0 |
But he stayed put, and then it was claimed he was ready to fight to earn a permanent move.
It is going to take a big effort from him to get that move. But on paper, he is a David Moyes-type player and the Scot will be open to that happening.
But certainly, he needs to significantly improve in the coming months.
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