Jordan Pickford’s poor season for Everton may pave the way for World Cup struggles with England

Jordan Pickford’s poor season for Everton may pave the way for World Cup struggles with England

The former Sunderland man appears to be Gareth Southgate's number one for Russia and that should be a concern.

IF Gareth Southgate’s suggested Netherlands selection is an indicator of future plans, Jordan Pickford’s first Everton season may well end in a World Cup debut with England. That will owe much to fortune, and the comparative unreliability of his counterparts, but there’s no denying Pickford’s promise. However, his debut campaign at Goodison has been concerning.

Last season, his first as Sunderland’s regular number one, Pickford conceded 50 goals in 29 Premier League appearances. This season, in just two more top flight outings, Pickford has conceded 50 again. 20 months, 60 Premier League matches, 100 goals conceded – whatever the mitigating factors, those numbers are worrying.

You could hardly get two more mitigating factors than Sunderland’s and Everton’s defences. Though managerial ineptitude and upheaval have undermined their efforts, most defenders involved have been embarrassments to their profession, lacking the technique to repel, and the work ethic to cover. Pickford deserves genuine sympathy for trying to forge a Premier League career behind these two bastions of incompetence.

Pickford’s resilience in the circumstances is admirable. He leads the Premier League with 95 saves this season – six more than second-placed England rival Jack Butland – and finished last season with 118 saves, also a league high. This can be interpreted as more proof of defensive failure in forcing Pickford into near constant action, but let’s not do him a disservice and overlook his effort.

Distribution is considered a string to Pickford’s bow, in particular the famed sidewinder volley he occasionally uses to launch attacks. Everton are yet to really benefit from this, but with a lack of pace and movement in the side, again there are confounding variables. That said, Pickford’s 51% pass completion ratio is a worry. That sees him rank 15th of the 25 keepers to have played at least 10 Premier League matches.

Incidentally, that is the same pass completion ratio as Butland and Joe Hart, and 5% better than Nick Pope who is number 25 on that list. One inevitable counter-argument – that Pickford attempts tougher passes over a longer distance – does not hold true. Pickford again finds himself in 15th position in terms of average distance (37 metres).

Evertonians have become accustomed to Pickford booting the ball straight out of play which has provoked the suggestion he’s trying too much. It’s as if he is executing a perceived high-quality skill rather than adapting to play. Pickford’s natural inclination is to curl the ball on to the right winger’s head. During Aaron Lennon’s run in the side, this became slightly ridiculous. Now he has been replaced by Theo Walcott, it’s no more logical.

However, it seems likely England could make greater use of this. In Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck and particularly Jamie Vardy, England have pace to get in behind. At Sunderland, Pickford demonstrated his ability to launch counters with rapid distribution – it’s fair to say Everton’s slow strikeforce and reactive tactics have restricted this aspect of his game.

In recent weeks, Pickford drew negative attention with three errors. Against Burnley, poor positional play allowed Ashley Barnes an easy close-range chance, before Chris Wood took advantage of Pickford distracting himself with Stephen Ward to head home. At Stoke, Pickford’s hesitance from a free-kick enabled Eric Choupo-Moting to poke home. All three goals were scored inside the six-yard box – commanding that area has to be a prerequisite for any keeper.

In fairness, these errors seem anomalous. The Barnes goal was out of character for Pickford, who is never usually hesitant off his line. As for the aerial mistakes, Pickford leads the league for claims (104 with a 100% rate) whilst only Heurelho Gomes (24) produced more punches (20). These were not technical flaws but lapses of judgement. It seems unlikely that Pickford will make a habit of either.

There appear to be some relatively straightforward pointers for Pickford here. Take more care in possession, try simpler passes, be more decisive off your line, don’t concern yourself with opponents from corners, maintain concentration on aerial deliveries. But the main one – play behind a much better defence – is obviously out of his hands. More to the point, it’s unclear whether England’s inexperienced World Cup ensemble will represent that necessary upgrade.

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