Everton legend says there’s an ‘agenda’ against one Toffees star

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Legendary former Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall has defended current Toffees stopper Jordan Pickford.

Southall made 578 Everton appearances, so it’s fair to say he knows a thing or two about what it takes to keep goal at Goodison.

Pickford made another blunder at the weekend against Brighton and will be rested for tonight’s England match against Wales.

But Southall offered his insight to i News, feeling some of the criticism is unfair.

“There seems to be an agenda with England where as soon as a player gets into the team, someone wants them out,” said Southall. “Right now it seems to be the turn of Harry Maguire and Jordan Pickford.

“I do have sympathy for Pickford. If he comes back in against Belgium on Sunday, he’ll have a gang of snipers watching him, all with their targets trained on him.

“That’s a lot of pressure for anybody. He’s had more stick recently than Boris Johnson – but for me he’s still better than all the other English goalies.

“Carlo Ancelotti has brought in another goalkeeper in Robin Olsen but I think he doesn’t need competition – he’s got competition going on in his head right now. The competition he needs to win is with himself.”

When someone like Southall gives his opinion on the Everton goalkeeping situation, it’s wise to listen.

The scrutiny on Pickford won’t change, until he puts together months of performances without mistakes and gets back to where he was in the 2018 World Cup.

One piece of good news for Pickford is that Everton are flying and his errors haven’t been costing them games.

Nick Pope made a mistake for Burnley on Saturday and Dean Henderson isn’t starting in the league for Manchester United, and both of those things bode well for Pickford’s England chances.

There’s no doubt Gareth Southgate is facing a goalkeeping conundrum before a major tournament, once again.

He got it spot-on with Pickford in 2018 and when June rolls around, he needs to make the right call once again. The Everton man must make sure he’s on top form by then.