At this summer’s Euros, if all goes to plan, Jordan Pickford will become England’s fifth most-capped goalkeeper, overtaking Ray Clemence and with the mighty Gordon Banks in his sights.
But does the Everton No 1 get even half the respect Clemence received for his sterling international service, let alone Banks? Far from it.
If Pickford plays in the upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, he will move on to 60 caps. Clemence won 61, Banks 73. That is illustrious company and the Wearsider deserves to keep it.
Jordan Pickford can become England’s most-capped goalkeeper – but does the Everton shot stopper get half the respect he deserves?
Pickford, who has 60 caps, can overtake legendary Three Lions goalkeepers Ray Clemence (left) and the mighty Gordon Banks (right)
Pickford was imperative for England during their Euro 2020 final against Italy, saving two penalties in the shootout
No other player did more to get England to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup or to the final of Euro 2020, in which he saved two penalties in the shootout against Italy.
By then he had become the first goalkeeper in tournament history to keep five clean sheets in the first five games.
He was almost as good at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, making notable saves against the USA and Senegal.
Before the quarter-final defeat by France, he kept three clean sheets in four games.
Those are serious statistics. Pickford should be lionised for the way he plays for the Three Lions. Any other country would cherish him.
But here, he is routinely belittled by football writers and pundits who rarely find anything more positive to say about him than a grudging, ‘He’s never let England down’.
Some of them are not even that magnanimous, suggesting he only has the job because there is nobody better.
It’s ill-informed nonsense. On social media, the Guardian’s Barney Ronay recently said only seven outfield players should be nailed-on starters at the Euros.
And in goal? A dismissive shrug of a selection. ‘I guess Pickford,’ he wrote, showing typical media condescension towards a man whose record should make him one of the first names on Gareth Southgate’s team sheet.
Former players are no less jaundiced. For Graeme Souness he is a ‘bombscare’, which in truth might once have been so.
The Guardian’s Barney Ronay recently said on X (formerly Twitter) only seven outfield players should be nailed-on starters, adding ‘I guess Pickford’ when naming his goalkeeper
Pundits have criticised Pickford in the past, including Graeme Souness (left) and Gary Neville
But these days Pickford is more of a bomb disposal expert, getting club and country out of far more scrapes than he gets them into, not to mention his influence at the other end of the pitch.
His quick thinking and accurate distribution, like his other virtues, rarely get as much attention as his infrequent errors.
Another former player, Gary Neville, at least acknowledges he is worth his international place. But he damns with faint praise, suggesting the Everton man habitually ‘raises his game’ for England.
This, too, is nonsense. Any Evertonian who watches Pickford most weeks knows that both last season and the one before he pretty much single-handedly steered the club clear of relegation.
His penalty save from James Maddison at Leicester towards the end of last season was as vital to Everton’s survival as his spellbinding performance a year earlier in a precious win over Chelsea at Goodison Park.
He alone, it often seems, stands between the Toffees and the trapdoor. As for this season, only Arsenal’s David Raya has more shut-outs than Pickford’s eight. That is the same as Manchester City’s feted Ederson, even though Pickford plays for a team who are again malfunctioning.
Pickford produced a sensational penalty save to deny James Maddison and hold Leicester to a 2-2 draw at the end of last season. Everton ultimately went on to avoid relegation
Only Arsenal’s David Raya (left) has more shut-outs than Pickford’s eight so far this season – with Man City’s Ederson (right) also amassing eight clean sheets
There was no clean sheet in Everton’s last Premier League outing against Manchester United.
But he was only beaten from the penalty spot and pulled off one save from Bruno Fernandes that was world class. Did he get any credit? Not really.
Pickford sits fourth in the rankings for the goalkeepers with the most clean sheets for England
Why is this? Why do respected observers repeatedly overlook the evidence of their own eyes and, like Souness, cling on to assessments made years ago?
Pickford turned 30 this month, which is generally regarded as a goalkeeper’s prime, but he continues to be defined by the impetuosity of his youth. Why?
For Paul Owens, a writer currently working on a history of Everton goalkeepers to be titled The Glovemen of Goodison, there are several reasons.
‘Opposition fans don’t like him because he’s mouthy and I don’t think the media like the fact that he celebrates saves the way strikers celebrate goals, though I think it’s great.
‘He’s considered bold, brash and abrasive, and they’ve taken against him for it.
‘They hate it when he berates his backline the way Peter Schmeichel used to.
Pickford celebrated his 30th birthday in style last week, alongside his partner Megan
Seamus Coleman (left) and Wayne Rooney (second left) – as well as boxer Tony Bellew (right) – all attended the party held for the Toffees’ goalkeeper
Pickford and his wife toast to his birthday celebrations with a kiss after turning 30 years old
‘I think a lot of them actually want him to fail and when he does make a mistake, as all keepers do, they jump on him harder than anyone else.’
Owens also cites the notorious Virgil van Dijk tackle. In October 2020, in the Merseyside derby, Pickford came flying out of his goal and clattered Van Dijk, leaving the Liverpool defender in need of surgery.
Bizarrely, referee Michael Oliver did not send him off. There was no malicious intent, but even most Everton fans knew that he deserved a red card for wildly reckless foul play.
The fall-out, in footballing terms, was nuclear. Pickford received furious censure in the media, as well as death threats from Liverpool fans.
Could he ever redeem himself in the eyes of the disproportionate number of ex-Liverpool players who work as TV pundits? Evidently, not yet.
Nor have they forgotten another of his highest-profile blunders, in a Merseyside derby in December 2018, when he gifted Divock Origi a last-minute winner.
But that was then. Six years ago Pickford was a good goalkeeper, but undoubtedly prone to rash decision-making. In games against Newcastle he allowed his Sunderland background to inform his interaction with the Geordie fans, which was unwise at best.
That is all behind him now. Since 2018 he has calmed down, matured, married, become a father, worked ferociously hard with the Everton goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly, consulted a sports psychologist and gone from good to great.
During the Merseyside derby in 2020, Pickford came flying out of his goal and clattered Virgil van Dijk – leaving the Liverpool defender in need of surgery
Neville Southall (right), the best of all Pickford’s predecessors in the Everton goal, recognises that their current goalkeeper is the full package
Since 2018 Pickford has calmed down, matured, married, become a father and worked ferociously hard – It is high time everyone stopped adhering to a narrative that is boring
If he does raise his game, it is in really significant fixtures, such as last season’s 0-0 draw with Liverpool, in which his eight saves made him man of the match.
His persistent critics rage that he doesn’t come off his line enough to collect crosses and that, in the football vernacular, he doesn’t ‘boss’ his area.
It is true that he is not a giant, like some of his counterparts. But he is tall enough and in that aspect of the game, good enough. Beyond that, he is far more than a quality shot-stopper. As fans who watch him week in, week out will attest, he is the full package.
Neville Southall, the greatest of all Pickford’s predecessors in the Everton goal, recognises that. It is high time everyone else did and stopped adhering to a narrative that is all the more boring for being years out of date.
Also Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celebrity News
