Trevor Steven delivers verdict on Jordan Pickford

Tue 13 July 2021 20:10, UK

BBC pundit Trevor Steven has praised Jordan Pickford despite his shaky moments in goal for Everton.

The England number one ended up Euro 2020 with a runners-up medal but won the Golden Gloves award for keeping five clean sheets.

He was also the only keeper not to concede a single goal from open play and made two key penalty saves that gave the Three Lions a terrific chance to win the game.

🔵 #EFC are into their second week of pre-season training as they prepare for their first set of friendlies in Florida

🗣️ @TrevorSteven63's been looking ahead to the new campaign with Ian Kennedy

🧤 He's also been talking about Jordan Pickford, who had an impressive #Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/WeSTxJVPqq
— BBC Merseyside Sport (@bbcmerseysport) July 13, 2021

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Speaking about his performances with BBC, the former league winner with the Toffees said, “He’s had his ups and downs but he’s always been a top-level goalkeeper with sometimes a lack of maturity about the way he plays 90 minutes.

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“But what we saw in the latter part of Everton’s season and being England’s number one, he was so much calmer than we’ve seen him.

“His distribution was excellent. His save making was excellent. He was so unlucky when [Leonardo] Bonucci scored because he made a terrific safe initially.”

Remarkable upturn in form

Pickford is a confidence player and for the past few months, it seems like he’s rejuvenated himself and is proving his worth as England’s top goalkeeper.

There were plenty of eyebrows raised when we signed him for an initial £25million fee potentially rising to £30million [The Independent], but he’s now proving to be worth every last penny.

He’s a composed figure on the ball that is pivotal in us building from the back and is a very agile goalkeeper who’s capable of making the spectacular save.

He is prone to the odd error or lapse in concentration, but we take it because he makes up for it with his performances over a considerable period of time.

Gareth Southgate made the right choice in sticking with him and we’re sure that he will thrive in Rafa Benitez’s system who is certainly going to look to get him involved in the build-up.

In other Everton news, ‘Deserves a chance’, ‘Awful’- Everton Super Fans react to pundit’s verdict of 24 y/o ace

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