England manager Gareth Southgate has sent a message to Jordan Pickford's critics after he was a standout performer in his side's 2-1 victory over Switzerland on Saturday evening.
The visitors opened the scoring early at Wembley, but goals from Luke Shaw and Harry Kane secured the win for the Three Lions. Pickford, though, made a crucial save at 1-0 to keep them in the game.
The 28-year-old has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks, in line with Everton's poor form, and former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock shared his views on Sky Sports earlier this week, saying: “I wouldn’t want to play in front of Jordan Pickford because I’d just be thinking: ‘Please be quiet. The way you’re acting.’ The way he goes about things, he’d drive me insane. There’s a way of doing it. He saves a shot and has a go at people for letting a shot come in at goal. You’re a goalkeeper. Do your job. Save the ball.
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“Don’t moan at people for getting shots away but there’s a way of telling people. ‘You’ve got to be tighter, you’ve got to be more organised.’ His is aggressive every time he comes out, he’s shouting at things. He’s just so animated for me, whenever I see him, I think there’s an error coming, or you’re out of control in what you’re doing.”
But following Pickford's display against Switzerland, Southgate came to his defence.
"Everybody is always highlighting Jordan Pickford but you saw in the first half the quality he has," the England manager said post-match. "He was composed with the ball today, he made good decisions and did not risk it in silly areas."
He then added in his press conference: "He [Pickford] has always played well for us. He has a good focus with us and a very good relationship with Martyn Margetson, who I think does an excellent job with him.
"He knows the structure around him and he knows clearly how we want him to play. Look, there is competition for everybody's position and that's what we want.
"We don't want people just sitting thinking confidently that there's no competition. That doesn't help the team. The form of the other goalkeepers is important, but he showed again today with big saves in important moments and I thought he was very calm with the ball.
"He linked the game well and that allowed us to relieve the pressure going back and out of the press. I thought it was a very good performance from him, especially the saves in the first half."
Pickford may have a chance to impress once again as England prepare to host Ivory Coast on Tuesday evening. He'll then return to club action with Everton next weekend as they prepare to travel to face West Ham United in a crucial league game
