Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has come under scrutiny for his performances in recent months.
Paul Robinson has stated that Everton’s Jordan Pickford needs to eradicate ‘little bits’ of errors in his game, but he was insistent that he is still England’s number one goalkeeper.
The 25-year-old senior made a number of costly errors during his side’s 3-2 defeat at Newcastle United over the weekend, including giving away a penalty which he ended up saving.
Added with that, he parried Miguel Almiron’s shot in the second half, with his save falling into the path of Ayoze Perez, who ended up equalising for his team before netting the winner moments later.
Speaking to the Football Centre on Sky Sports News (11/03/2019 12:40 pm), former England international Robinson shared his brutally honest views on his goalkeeping counterpart.
“Yes, he is absolutely [still England’s number one],” Robinson told Sky Sports News. “I don’t think that he is playing the best that he has played. I don’t think he is at the top of his game because he has set a high bar.
“I think he made an error in the Merseyside derby. I think that affected him a little bit. That’s the first time he made a high profile error where people are now scrutinising him and a goalkeeper is all about confidence.
“When you make a mistake or you have criticism levelled at you, you have to be very strong. There are little bits in Pickford’s game of late, he’s not done anything particularly wrong, he’s just not at the top of his game. Is he England’s number one goalkeeper for the next internationals? Absolutely, he has earned that right.”
There is no doubt that since England’s successful World Cup campaign last summer, Pickford, who was a regular between the sticks for Gareth Southgate’s side, proved his worth and maturity in that tournament.
Despite his successes in Russia, the senior Toffees player has produced an indifferent campaign despite coming off a high from the summer, with his most costly error coming against rivals Liverpool during the first Merseyside derby of the season.
Southgate is set to name his England squad on Wednesday for the upcoming international fixtures and Pickford will be hoping to keep his place in the starting XI.
In recent months, the likes of Southampton’s Angus Gunn and Burnley’s Tom Heaton have produced the goods for their side as they will be looking to battle him for that number one spot.
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