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Everton goalkeeper has been criticized and written off throughout his career, but another great performance will cement his place in history
Whatever happens against Italy at Wembley on Sunday, an English player has already made Euro 2020 history.
Jordan Pickford isn’t everyone’s idea of a hero, but in Wednesday’s semi-final against Denmark, Everton goalkeeper broke Gordon Banks’ record – set during the golden summer of 1966 – 720 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal for the Three Lions.
Maybe we should have known what was to come. Within minutes of reaching this stage, Pickford was beaten by Mikkel Damsgaard’s spectacular free-kick, and suddenly, the ‘Greater England Goalkeepers Debate’, made largely redundant as the tournament progressed. , has been reopened.
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Gary Neville was among those who thought Pickford could have done better, while Jose Mourinho suggested that even before Damsgaard’s missile, the 27-year-old had “shown a bit of nerves and a bit of lack of focus” , especially with distribution with the ball in the hands.
It really is the way life is for Pickford. He will always have his skeptics, even when he climbs high.
Memories of those high-profile mistakes for his club are hard to change, although the Evertonians will tell you his form has always been superb in recent months.
His season has started badly. We always have the feeling at Pickford that impetuosity, even hyperactivity, can undermine his game.
There is a reckless side to the Wearsider, and it was perhaps as evident as it ever was last fall, when his form at Everton was poor and he made headlines after he injured Virgil van Dijk with a wild and high challenge in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool.
This incident hit Pickford hard. The criticism was fierce; Gini Wijnaldum called his challenge “completely stupid”, while Jurgen Klopp said the challenge was “hard to take” as Van Dijk had to face months on the sidelines.
Pickford, who apologized via Reds captain Jordan Henderson after the game, felt worried enough to tighten security around his family home. Merseyside Police said they were investigating numerous threat messages sent to them via social media.
Carlo Ancelotti saw the warning signs, knocking him out of the crosshairs several times last season. The Italian has publicly insisted that Pickford has all his faith, but Swedish No.1 Robin Olsen will end the campaign after making seven Premier League appearances.
Pickford was guilty when Everton drew at home with Leicester in late January, allowing Yuri Tielemans’ 20-yard shot to slip through their hands.
Around this time, he revealed that he had started using the services of a sports psychologist, as he looked for ways to improve the mental aspect of his game and his ability to cope, according to his own. terms, to “sticky patches”.
And as winter turned into spring, Pickford began to rebuild his form. Everton lost their way, but their No.1 found theirs. He was, in the eyes of most fans, their star man for the second half of the season.
This improvement was carried over to euros.
Pickford was pretty much flawless throughout the group stage; calm, composed and able to get England up the pitch with their kicks. Without him Scotland might have left Wembley with more than a goalless draw.
There have been two big interventions in the last 16 games against Germany, when he denied Timo Werner in the first half and Kai Havertz in the second, although skeptics got agitated when he ran from his line. to slice a clearance in the quarter-final victory over Ukraine. . At least on this occasion, England offered themselves the luxury of a 4-0 lead.
If England are to win on Sunday – and they will certainly want their chances on home soil – then they’ll need the relaxed and focused version of Pickford, as opposed to the one dubbed ‘Speedy’ at school, due to his “100 miles”. an hour of nature, or the one memorably described by a sports journalist as “a human jager bomb” after the Van Dijk incident.
Wembley will be loud, loud, tense and emotional. Italy will be aggressive, determined, dangerous, ready to pop the balloons.
The calm, and not just of Pickford, will matter a lot. That’s what Gareth Southgate will ask for, and what could define this tightest final.
And of course, the opportunity for Pickford to become a hero looms on the horizon. Push back the Italians, save a penalty or two in a shootout, and his place in English folklore will be assured.
And who knows, maybe then, finally, the debate around the English n ° 1 will start to move?
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