Chris Sutton has mocked Everton’s defence when rating Jordan Pickford’s performance against the USA claiming he has “flashbacks” to club life during the underwhelming draw.
The Everton shot-stopper started for Gareth Southgate’s side on Friday 25 November and recorded his first clean sheet of the World Cup in an assured performance in goal.
Although much of England’s side fell under heavy criticism following the drab performance, the 28-year-old proved himself a stable presence at the back and pulled off some crucial saves to keep England level.
In his column for the Daily Mail, Chris Sutton rated Jordan Pickford’s performance a 5/10 and couldn’t resist making a jab at Frank Lampard and The Toffees in the process.
He said: “England’s defence wasn’t protecting their goalkeeper.
“Pickford must have had flashbacks to a few games with Everton!
“Just kidding, but Pickford can thank his crossbar for stopping Christian Pulisic from denying him his first clean sheet of this World Cup.”
Although England were happy to sit in second gear for much of the night and invite pressure onto them, Pickford remained a stable and reassuring presence in goal.
He dealt with everything the U.S. threw at him with relative ease and apart from Pullisic’s thumping strike which hit the crossbar, was left relatively untroubled.
The goalkeeper was happy to call out his fellow teammates whenever they failed to provide him with adequate protection and he didn’t slip down to the standards of a number of his outfield counterparts.
His remark about Everton was a little unnecessary considering how well Pickford had played and the 5/10 rating was a little harsh for a player who did little wrong on the night.
The Evertonian has always delivered for his nation at big tournaments, and Lampard will be hopeful that the shot-stopper can bring this maturity back to Merseyside in December, where his manager will dearly need him.
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