Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has opened up on his drive and ambition amid a patchy period of form for the Toffees.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side have come under defensive scrutiny for understandable reasons. Everton have managed just one clean sheet this season in a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on the opening weekend of the campaign, conceding in every Premier League fixture since (Transfermarkt).
The Toffees have the fourth-worst record in the league for goals conceded, with 18 going past them in their first 11 games. It would be fallacious to assume that Pickford alone is the sole differential without considering other factors, although he has been noted for some poor positional awareness and a weakness at shots from distance.
He has also been mired in controversy over a wild lunge on Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk during the Merseyside derby in October.
Amid recent criticism, Pickford has hit out at his critics and issued an impassioned defence of his confidence and ambitions, saying:
Everyone wants to keep a clean sheet, starting from Dominic [Calvert-Lewin] up front. You can see how much he presses and how hard he works off the ball. That’s the trigger. Dominic is the first line of defence.
It’s about being resilient and giving it your all.
Those quotes bode well for Everton’s dogged team-based approach, although Pickford did not duck any questions over his own development and performances.
I’ve got to be ready for anything. When called upon, it’s about being there for the lads, making those saves and being in that moment. I feel like I’m building momentum.
I live off clean sheets. We want to win games by keeping clean sheets. I train hard with Kells [goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly] and the other keepers every day in training to aim to do that.
I’ll keep learning and keep trying to get better.
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Pickford’s quotes are cause for encouragement. They demonstrate a defensive urgency to the team which is sometimes not translated onto the pitch.
However, the 26-year-old’s frank positivity and desire to improve is reassuring; his head is in the right place.
