Dermot Gallagher blasts Jordan Pickford for what he did in Everton vs Tottenham
Dermot Gallagher believes Jordan Pickford showed “desperation” after making an error and fouling Harry Kane to concede a penalty as Everton lost to Tottenham.
The Toffees suffered back to back losses for the first time since the opening two games of the season after Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored in each half, with Pickford fouling Kane after spilling a catch.
But while many believed it was Kane who initiated the contact and dived, Gallagher told his “Ref watch” segment on Sky Sports [17 October] that it was the goalkeeper’s fault for putting himself in that position to begin with.
“I can understand why a penalty is given,” he said.
“The goalkeeper loses the ball and is down in desperation and tries to get the ball and Kane goes over him. Many people have said Kane is instigating the contact, but Pickford has put himself in that position.”
Poor
It’s hard to know whether or not Kane really made a meal of it and initiated the contact, because in all honesty it looks like Pickford would have taken him out regardless.
It was poor from the goalkeeper, who has had a stellar campaign so far and doesn’t deserve the criticism that will come his way from the incident.
Yes he should have done better, and yes he should have been more composed in the moment, but he’s a human and mistakes happen.
Everton can feel hard done by if they want, but it won’t solve anything and there’s certainly no clear evidence to suggest it wasn’t a penalty so it would just be wasted energy.
Instead, they should focus on resetting their minds and channeling all their energy towards getting a big win over Newcastle at St James’ Park on Wednesday night to get back on track and start climbing the table again and get rid of claims that Lampard is “very vulnerable” in his job.