The Everton boss liked what he saw from his goalkeeper in Spain 2-3 England.
England handed Spain their first competitive defeat on home soil for 15 years on Monday evening with a 3-2 win.
While goal-scorers Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford rightly took plaudits, so did goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who managed to play a key role in two of England’s goals.
Pickford began England attacks that led to goals from both strikers through accurate long-range passes, catching the eye with a skill that few can match at even the elite level.
Unsurprisingly his boss at Everton, Marco Silva, was full of praise for the 24-year-old.
“How Jordan started those two goals [against Spain] was very good,” he said, according to Evertonfc.com. “He took those decisions because the coach believes in him and encouraged him to do that.
“It is more or less what we are doing as well. We have a style and in some moments everything starts with Jordan.
“He has this quality, he is important for us as a club and, as he showed on Monday night, he is important for the national team, too.”
More than that, Silva is adamant that Pickford is yet to fulfil his potential despite the performance.
“You can improve and learn from playing games and from situations,” he said. “He has these skills [on the ball] and I am sure he can improve more and more with his feet, as well.
“The things he has to improve, he will improve, and we will work with him on that.”
Pickford is a shining example of how much a player can improve when he is being asked to work on his talents at both club and international level.
The Toffees knew when they signed him that he was a goalkeeper with very good distribution and the potential to be truly exceptional in that area.
Now, with Silva and Southgate both encouraging him to play to that strength, he is simply getting better and better.
It is an improvement and a show of potential that was very nearly under the management of Sam Allardyce for both club and country. That should be considered a lucky escape.
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