Robert Green praises Everton ace Jordan Pickford after ‘big’ performances in 21/22 season
Former England goalkeeper Robert Green says Everton ace Jordan Pickford has started focusing more on himself after ‘big performances’ in the 2021/22 season.
The Toffees number one ended the season in fine form as he helped the club avoid relegation with one game to spare in what was a horror season for Everton.
But after facing criticism during his career and finding his number one spot for England under debate several times, Green told Channel 4 [June 4] ahead of the defeat to Hungary that the 28-year-old has stopped trying to be too involved and is more focused on his own job now which is helping his technique.
“Yeah, more positive and more clearer and calmer minded as well,” he said.
“I think that’s critical for Jordan Pickford and the way that he plays. Looking at some of the saves he made this season, big, big saves for Everton.
“He has a temptation to want to get involved in the team, to get excited. [Not doing] That in turn leads to a better technique and clearer mind. You can see that he’s set, ready to make save.
“He’s not tempted to get involved with the play, that’s where mistakes come. You don’t want to start second guessing your team-mates. He’s focusing on doing his job and from that comes a better technique.
“Some big performances from him and they’ll need him again with the World Cup coming.”
Maturity
It’s easy to forget that Pickford is still so young for a goalkeeper and could easily be at the top level for another decade.
He burst onto the scene as a youngster with Sunderland and has never looked back, but at the end of the 2021/22 season he showed a real maturity to his game that we hadn’t seen before.
Pickford was a leader on the pitch, performed to a high level consistently and was a huge reason why Frank Lampard’s side were able to avoid relegation to the Championship.
He seems to have found his groove and his perfect moment in his career where he’s happy and performing well, and heading into the World Cup he will be confident that he can hold onto his shirt ahead of the tournament.
The result against Hungary wasn’t ideal preparation but there was nothing he could do about the goal and gave no reason to be dropped any time soon either.
In other Everton news, Frank Lampard must make major decision in new season for squad rebuild
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