English newspapers react to Jordan Pickford display after Everton man plays in England 2-0 win v Malta
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford started for England on Friday night as the Three Lions unconvincingly beat Malta in their Euro 2024 qualifying game at Wembley.
Gareth Southgate’s already-qualified men boosted their hopes of being seeded for Euro 2024 next summer with a lacklustre 2-0 win.
Phil Foden’s pull-back was diverted into his own net by Malta defender Enrico Pepe after only eight minutes, but the Three Lions failed to register a single shot on target in the opening hour against a nation ranked 171st in the world.
However, England did produce a bit of quality in the 75th minute to seal victory through Harry Kane.
Everton shot-stopper Pickford picked up his 57th cap for his country but was a spectator as Malta rarely threatened the England goal after the opening stages and English media piled on the verdicts on the Toffees star after the full-time whistle.
The Evening Standard gave Pickford a 6/10 for his display, writing: “Malta played well, but their efforts on goal never threatened his clean sheet.”
The Telegraph also handed the goalkeeper a 6/10 after his quiet evening, writing: “Survived a scare in the first minute when Malta got sight of goal and went just wide through Teddy Teuma but otherwise was not troubled much despite Malta’s counter-attack attempts.”
The Daily Mail followed that with another 6/10, arguing that Pickford needed an “armchair”: “An early scare when Teuma fired narrowly wide, but he was a spectator that apart. Another cap, at least. What he really needed was an armchair.”
Wasn’t needed
As bad as England were all evening at Wembley on Friday night (17 November), it was an incredibly comfortable evening for Pickford.
However, he did have a scare early on the opening seconds after Malta had a rasping shot which he may not have saved had it been on target.
Had that goal gone, both Pickford and England could well have been on the end of a national media hiding allowing the 171st-ranked side in the world a famous collectors item.
After that, Pickford was only required in possession but the Daily Mail was right, he could have been given an armchair and still wouldn’t have been troubled much by the Maltese attack.
The Everton shot-stopper will be in for a much tougher test on Monday though as his side takes on North Macedonia in their last Euro qualifier encounter and Southgate will hope his number one isn’t still asleep from Friday’s win.
Needs to be very much on guard on foreign land.
In other Everton news, a billionaire-owned club may have to pay up to £45million to sign a Toffees star.