Pickford is right man to save the day for England, insist team-mates
ONE of Gareth Southgate’s boldest decisions as England coach was to promote Jordan Pickford to be his firstchoice goalkeeper — and the wisdom of that decision is now being put to the test.
As we saw during Russia’s shock defeat of Spain on penalties last night, the man chosen to stand between the posts can have the biggest say on a team’s fortunes at a World Cup once the knockout stages are under way.
The Everton stopper has yet to shine in the tournament, but there is no time like tomorrow’s last-16 match against Colombia to put that right.
England did not need to rely on him too much during the opening group squad, due to his ability to play out from the back. But a keeper’s main role is to shut out the opposition and England are still awaiting their first clean sheetof the tournament.
Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois outshone Pickford on Thursday and questioned afterwards whether his c o u n te r p a r t ’s 6 f t 1 i n frame was a weakness when failing to stop Adnan Januzaj’s winner. Pundits also appeared to lay the blame at his door, which could be damaging mentally for a veteran, let alone a 24-year-old.
But do not underestimate Pickford’s resolve. After all, this was a player who moved to Goodison Park from Sunderland for £30million last summer and ended the campaign winning the club’s player of the season, players’ player of the season and young player of the season awards.
It is clear he has reacted to the negative comments following the Belgium encounter in the right manner.
Striker Danny Welbeck said: “Someone mentioned he’d had some criticism, but I didn’t even know about it. He’s been the same bubbly character around the camp. That’s how he is. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but you know what’s best for you and how to keep on improving.
“He’ll keep doing that and there’s no reason why he can’t be one of the best around. There’s not any extra added pressure on him. We’ve been together for a few weeks now, we stick behind each other, we push each other to the next level. He’s in that groove now of trying to be better than before.
“Jordan has shown his ability and potential since he burst through at Sunderland. He has played a lot of Premier League games already for someone his age. He’s been really confident and that helps the whole team. He is still young but he’s got everything you need to be a top goalkeeper.”
Before the tournament began, former England keeper David Seaman, who won 75 caps and played in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, said of Southgate’s goalkeeping dilemma: “My only worry is that they [Pickford, Butland and Pope]
⬤ have got hardly any experience. But it is all a learning curve. As a keeper it is all about cutting out mistakes or, if you make one, how you react afterwards.”
Ruben Loftus-Cheek got to know P i c k fo rd e a rl i e r than most in the current squad as they played together with the Under-21s and the Chelsea midfielder does not understand why anyone would be worried about the Everton keeper’s ability to perform at