Everton: Roy Keane joins Jordan Pickford pile-on with new worry, but history shows he's totally wrong

Roy Keane is the latest to criticise Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for his performances at the World Cup with England.

Pickford was beaten by Brian Cipenga early on in England's last-32 tie with DR Congo in Atlanta on Wednesday evening.

England's defending was poor, but the general consensus was that their number one should have still kept out the shot at his near post.

The 32-year-old has been criticised throughout the Three Lions' run to the last 16, where Mexico wait at the Azteca later this week.

Alan Shearer was among those to criticise Pickford, who had Harry Kane double to thank for preventing him from being the focus of more attention.

While Keane is allowed his own opinion, his latest comments on Pickford just do not stack up.

Roy Keane's comments on Jordan Pickford not justified

It is fair to say Pickford's England display did not go down well with the media.

There is nothing the English press love more than a scapegoat, which the Everton fan favourite very much is right now.

Giving his thoughts on England in general on the The Overlap podcast on Thursday, Keane said why he has concerns over Pickford.

"There's the worry also of the goalkeeper," he said. "I don't know if he's going to get England out of jail on a bad day by making three or four world-class saves.

"If he's got anything about him, he'll be saying 'I should have saved that'. And I'm not one of those who says goalkeeper's shouldn't be beaten at their near post. If he gets a good hand to it..."

Firstly, Pickford perhaps could have done more to keep out the Congo goal - but what on earth was his defence doing?

Secondly, to suggest Pickford is not capable of producing a string of saves to get England "out of jail", as Keane puts it, is simply not true.

The one stat that highlights Pickford's England importance

A BBC Sport article last year pointed out how Pickford had made just one error for England in 79 caps up to that point.

One error in 79 games. That, incidentally, came against Belgium in 2024 when a poor clearance was punished.

Pickford has also more than saved England down the years with his moments of brilliance.

Think of his performance against Sweden in the 2018 World Cup, as just one example.

He produced an unbelievable stop to keep out Marcus Berg and then Viktor Claesson late on as England advanced.

Pickford also halted England's penalty shootout hoodoo when denying Carlos Bacca for Colombia in the same tournament.

You can also add penalty saves against Switzerland, Spain and Italy to that list.

Pundits are all too quick to mention things Pickford could do better, rather than remember how consistent he has been for years.

Nobody at Everton needs reminding, but perhaps some big-name pundits do.