Jamie Carragher has claimed, in his column for The Telegraph, that Jordan Pickford has been ‘unrecognisable’ for England compared to the ‘erratic figure’ he cut at Everton last season.
Pickford has been one of Gareth Southgate’s standout performers at Euro 2020 as the Three Lions reached the quarter-finals. The Toffees stopper has started all four and kept clean sheets in all four fixtures, including shutting out Germany.
Croatia struggled to truly test Pickford in England’s opening group stage game, but the 27-year-old had to do well to keep out Scotland’s Stephen O’Donnell. Pickford’s initial stop was excellent, but he also had to react well to palm away the Motherwell defender’s strike.
Pickford again shone against the Czech Republic to deny Tomas Holes, then sprawled strongly to keep out Germany’s Timo Werner. It was an even better save to deny Kai Havertz, and England will desperately want more of the same.
That was not a phrase always associated with Pickford for Everton last season. And Carragher has noted how the £25m star is also showing stronger leadership skills.
“It is not just Pickford’s saves that differentiate him from the erratic figure often derided at Goodison Park,” Carragher wrote. “His general demeanour is unrecognisable. Witness him bawling at his England defenders against Germany on Tuesday, berating anyone allowing an attacker time and space to shoot.
“It’s a stark contrast to his Premier League catalogue, which contains too many lapses to tempt any of the ‘big six’ – some of whom need or have recently been in need of a top-class keeper – to buy him.
“During the course of last season, Carlo Ancelotti went so far as to rotate Everton keepers and claim there was not much to choose between Pickford and Sweden’s Robin Olsen.”
Everton will want the England version of Pickford Carragher praises
Everton will eagerly hope to see the version of Pickford that Carragher praises for his England form at Goodison Park. He has rarely put a foot wrong at Euro 2020 and has shown great will to lead his nation’s backline.
Pickford has been prone to lapses of form and concentration since his arrival on Merseyside in 2017. His performances deserved scrutiny in October, when the goalkeeper gifted Brighton’s Neal Maupay a goal after dropping the ball.
It was his fifth error to lead to a goal since the start of the previous season, per talkSPORT. And things hardly got better for Pickford after the Merseyside derby, or against Leicester in January. He could only palm Youri Tielemans’ shot into his net, a far cry from his Euro 2020 displays.
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