Sean Dyche believes the next step forward for Jordan Pickford is to make his Everton heroics redundant by stopping attacks before they reach him.
Pickford has hit top form amid a relegation battle for a second consecutive year, following up his penalty save at Leicester City with a series of exceptional stops at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Dyche has now spoken with Pickford about how he might be able to prevent opponents from getting into dangerous positions in the first place by directing the players ahead of him - making his life easier by stopping attacks “at source”.
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Speaking ahead of Everton’s game with Manchester City - and after Pickford’s superb displays at the King Power and Amex Stadiums - Dyche praised his number one for his “athleticism, shot stopping and his speed around the area”. The Blues b oss said he was aware of the emotion that is obvious within Pickford’s game and had discussed it with him - concluding “he is getting older and wiser in his professional outlook”. Dyche does not mind Pickford wearing his heart on his sleeve and has given the England international the freedom to choose how best to express himself.
What Dyche is particularly keen for Pickford to do is to take full advantage of the tactical perspective his position affords him. Fewer wonder-saves would be necessary if opposition attacks could be stopped before reaching the Everton box and Dyche believes Pickford could be key to that.
He said: "I’ve already had a quick chat with him about looking at the team, observing the team. As you get older and wiser you see things - the pictures, the defensive planning picture. As a goalkeeper sometimes you see the attacking picture, but it is usually the defensive picture from behind the back four. It is not just about affecting yourself but what can you affect around you? We’ve had a chat about that and now I think he can use that wisely. He’s adapting and using some of that and I’m pleased for him.
"It’s just adding on, improving in a different way. I’ve never spoken to keepers about their technical handling, or technical alignment, or closing down space, but I’ve always spoken to them about the overview, like their tactical understanding - because as keepers mature they see it better and better and the more games you have sometimes you can stop it at source, you keep the ball away from you by planning that the right back gets across, or shouting out to your centre-halves, ‘right shoulder’, ‘left shoulder’, simple terminologies to what’s in front of you.
"The best goalkeepers I think eventually end up literally being the last port of call because they’ve already stopped it at source. So I’ve said to him that now you are who you are with your individual prowess as a goalkeeper, the next thing to add and keep adding in is looking at the landscape, what’s in front of you, looking at the organisation. Can you affect it to stop it even getting near you because I think the best goalkeepers have done that so well down the years."
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