Wenger was wrong – this keeper has got what it takes
He may not be ‘massive’ but Pickford has proved his critics wrong and that he is no weak link
CHIEF FOOTBALL CORRESPONDENT It was not Arsene Wenger’s finest hour. But it would, eventually, be Jordan Pickford’s. The former Arsenal manager had suggested the goalkeeper might be the weak link in this England team, a remark that followed on from Thibaut Courtois questioning whether Pickford was big enough after the way he could not reach Adnan Januzaj’s goal for Belgium last week. Cheap shots.
But Pickford certainly stands tall now after his remarkable save to help to earn England this oh-sovital shoot-out win. It was a moment that will live with him for ever, a moment – along with Eric Dier’s decisive penalty – that might just change the landscape of how England are perceived in world football. A moment in which England grew to new heights.
“When you look at the teams who have won the World Cup, you realise there is always a big goalkeeper in goal,” Wenger had said in his role as a TV pundit.
“We have no examples of a team who has won the World Cup without a massive goalkeeper. Pickford will maybe be one, but he lacks experience and they might pay for that.”
But England did not pay and they might just go against Wenger’s rule after what was only Pickford’s seventh cap. The Everton goalkeeper had received the backing of Gareth Southgate when he was asked whether he was wavering over his No 1, having given the 24-year-old the shirt ahead of Jack Butland, and this was a sweet vindication of that.
In fact, Southgate had lightly put the debate over Pickford’s height into perspective, by claiming the furore was over the equivalent of the size of a “Cadbury’s Creme Egg.”
That was in reaction to Courtois claiming that his rival was “too busy” trying to make a dramatic stop to save Januzaj’s shot and mocked Pickford’s height.
At 6ft 1in, that is five inches shorter than the Belgian – actually the equivalent to two-and-a-half creme eggs – but it was typical of Southgate’s measured management style that he dealt with it in this way rather than getting angry.
So much had been made in the run-up to this last-16 tie of England’s mentally stifling record in penalty shoot-outs that everyone seemed to focus on the takers and not the man tasked with saving the opposition’s kicks, who is just as important.
Pickford said he had studied Colombia but, in truth, he got nowhere near the first three.
In fairness, those taken by Radamel Falcao and Juan Cuadrado in front of the end solely occupied by Colombian fans were pretty much unstoppable – high and powerful – although Pickford did dive when Falcao’s kick was straight.
He was outfoxed by Luis Muriel, who calmly rolled the ball into the net after the goalkeeper, once again, threw himself following a routine in which he had clearly deliberately chosen to bounce up and down on the goalline, tapping the Jordan Pickford first faced a penalty on loan for Darlington at Mansfield in 2012 – he failed to save Matt Green’s kick crossbar and, as Southgate says, “own the process”. At that stage, it seemed England were heading out as Jordan Henderson missed, but Pickford unsettled Colombia’s fourth taker, Mateus Uribe, with his technique, the midfielder’s shot slamming back off the crossbar. Suddenly, he was back in business. He then had his moment as he pulled off a superb, one-handed save from Carlos Bacca’s penalty, when he again dived to his right.
Pickford’s left hand shot up high, eye on the ball. What a save. It was the first shoot-out save by an England goalkeeper in a major tournament since David Seaman in 1998, and the celebrations were astonishing as Pickford’s teammates tore towards him once Eric Dier had slotted home his penalty.
“I did all my research. I’ve got power and agility. I don’t care if I’m not the biggest keeper because it’s about being there in the moment and making the save, and I was,” Pickford said, which showed he was aware of the harsh criticism from Courtois, in particular.
Maybe it motivated him further and, if it did, he found the right response. “It’s all about the set position and I got a hand to it. We knew we had this game, even if it had to go to penalties, we knew we were capable of winning. I was in a massive whirlwind, but I saved it with my left hand. I’ve been criticised for going with my top hand, but as long as you save it, that’s all that counts. I might be young, but I’ve got good mental strength and experience and I used that today.”
There had also been a fine save by Pickford deep into normal time, as he tipped away a shot for a corner, but that was lost as Colombia claimed their equalising goal from the resultant corner.
But again he will feel vindication with that as he stretched himself to tip the ball away. It was as nothing, though, to the shoot-out and what unfolded.