Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SILENT TERRACES WILL BE GOLDEN FOR PICKFORD
PAUL ROBINSON believes Jordan Pickford is still England’s best goalkeeper.
The Everton gloveman, 26, just needs to calm down after recent clashes with
Virgil van Dijk and
Harry Maguire.
And former
England No.1
Robinson (right) claims the absence of fans in grounds could boost
Pickford’s attempts to rediscover his confidence.
He said: “Jordan gets sucked into the emotions of the game too much.
“He is a very good goalkeeper if he can keep his emotions in check.
“But sometimes when he makes a mistake, he goes looking for something to do.
“And that is one of the worst things you can do as a goalkeeper because those are generally not the sort of things you should be doing.
“He has got to be mentally strong and he will find it easier because of the empty stadiums at the moment.
“Usually, you are constantly reminded about your mistakes because every time you pick up the ball there are 20,000 people screaming abuse at you.
“They all have an opinion – what you look like, what you did, what you should have done... not to mention stuff about your mother or your family! Normally, that is something you have to live with.
“When you are at the top of the pedestal, you are there to be shot at. Everybody has an opinion on you.
“Every goal you let in, you know yourself that you could have done something better, whether it was a bad throw-out or you were a little bit far to one side.
“Then when you are
England
No.1 and you come under a bit of pressure, everybody is suddenly an expert analysing everything you do.
“Jordan is still the best English goalkeeper in the country.
“But you question if he is even in the top level of goalkeepers in the Premier
League
“You look at
Alisson, Ederson... and Edouard Mendy at Chelsea is probably putting himself in that bracket.
“Probably even
Jordan is not quite there.
“He is at the top of the level beneath that.”