Sky Sports pundit slams ‘very harsh’ critics of Everton keeper Jordan Pickford
We’re delighted to welcome former Everton striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week the former Toffees captain will be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Goodison Park…
Kevin Campbell has dismissed critics of Everton keeper Jordan Pickford as “harsh” because he had “no chance” to save Aurelien Tchouameni’s strike for France.
The Toffees man let in a low shot from the edge of the area, that went through Jude Bellingham’s legs, as England went out in the World Cup quarter final on 10 December, and has been blamed for the goal by the likes of Ben Foster on TikTok [12 December] and Paul Merson [Sky Sports, 13 December] as a result.
But Sky Sports pundit Campbell has rubbished their claims that the Everton man was at fault, using his experience as a striker to highlight the difficulties for a keeper when it goes through a defender’s legs.
He exclusively told Goodison News of the criticism: “Very harsh. The distance the shot came in from and the way it went through the player’s legs usually that’s what takes it away from the goalkeeper.
“A lot of people like to be harsh on these things and a lot of them don’t really know anything about goalkeeping.
“But one thing I know as a striker, if you get it through the defender’s legs usually it’s got a good chance of beating the goalkeeper.
“It was hit with real ferocity as well, so he had no chance. He saw it late.
“People can blame. Probably because you go out people start blaming, but he had no chance with that.”
Foster specifically claimed that the shot going through Bellingham’s legs would have had no affect on Pickford, which seems quite a blanket claim to make.
The England number one seemed to have had a pretty good tournament on the whole, but as soon as Gareth Southgate’s team came off second best it is Pickford who is in the firing line as much as anyone, with the likes of William Gallas [Genting Casino, 13 December] and Christophe Lollichon [Eurosport, 12 December] also getting involved.
He is probably used to it by now but the eagerness to jump on the slightest error from the 28-year-old while making excuses for other players’ is an increasingly tired narrative.