‘He gets too hyped up’ – Ex Liverpool man calls on Everton regular to calm down
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s time at Goodison Park has been topsy-turvy so far, to say the least, and he’s not without his detractors.
The England number one has struggled for consistency and has found it difficult to avoid high-profile mistakes.
He remains the undisputed first choice on Merseyside, though, but that’s probably mostly due to a lack of quality options behind him.
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, however, feels that the 25-year-old must improve moving forward.
“I think the trouble with Jordan is he gets engaged with the crowd sometimes – he gets too hyped up,” he told Love Sport Radio.
“When he does make a mistake, that’s when the criticism comes, because he is so vocal and because he is so loud on the pitch it opens him up for criticism.
“I think he just needs to calm down a little bit, concentrate on his game. He’s a fantastic keeper but other keepers are putting pressure on him now and that’s what we [England] need.”
Has Kirkland nailed Pickford’s big problem?
He’s certainly put his finger on one of them. Pickford is a terrific shot-stopper, there’s no doubt about that, but his all-around game needs to improve still.
He is a very passionate, energetic person and he does seem to like interacting with his team-mates, the opposition and the supporters.
If he cut that out and started to focus a bit more on his own game then he might be able to concentrate a bit more and therefore avoid the costly errors which have plagued his career.
In other Everton news, the club are reported to have big interest in bringing a Premier League captain to Goodison Park.