Ally McCoist defends Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford as England number one
Ally McCoist has praised Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for his performances for England and backed him to be number one under Gareth Southgate.
Pickford started in goal for the Three Lions in their 2-1 win over Switzerland on Saturday afternoon, and turned in a great individual performance in a lacklustre team showing.
After a poor club season his place has come under threat, but McCoist told talkSPORT’s Breakfast Show [6:09am, March 28] that he deserves his spot between the sticks.
“Two or three fantastic saves,” he said. Brilliant saves.
“Sometimes you get a situation where the international manager just believes in and trusts in him.
“There were a lot of people shouting to give Nick Pope a shot [at Euro 2020], or Aaron Ramsdale and all these people, and they might still get an opportunity, but I thought he pulled off some excellent saves. Really good.”
Trust
An important factor often overlooked about the relationship between players and managers is trust, and Southgate implicitly trusts Pickford.
Rightly so too, because the Toffees stopper has never let him down at international level and has a ‘golden record’ of 20 clean sheets in his 43 caps for his country.
That relationship that he has built with his defensive line and the manager has been the foundation behind England’s excellent record in tournaments recently.
He has his flaws, as does every England goalkeeper option, but his experience and individual performances have earned him the right to have credit in the bank for the position.
His performance against Switzerland just further proved that he is more than good enough to be the number one choice in goal for his nation and heading into the 2022 World Cup, the shirt should be his to lose.
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