Jordan Pickford was an unused substitute in Everton’s 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon, sitting on the bench while Robin Olsen made his first Premier League start since joining us on loan from AS Roma.
The 26-year-old has struggled for consistency in the last 12 months and hasn’t been able to curb the mistakes this season either, so it wasn’t a shock that Carlo Ancelotti took him out of the firing line for one game.
Why did Ancelotti drop Pickford?
After our 2-1 defeat, Ancelotti said: “I just want to give Jordan a rest for this game and to give an opportunity to Olsen, to have minutes. Jordan will be back for the next game against Manchester United.” I think our manager is being very diplomatic, as it’s pretty obvious for anyone paying attention why he made this call. Pickford recently hired bodyguards for protection after his family received death threats, so his head can’t be in the right price.
Pickford has made the joint-most errors leading to goals (5) since the start of last season. He was criticised for conceding to Grady Diangana in our 5-2 win over West Bromwich Albion (September 19), failed to clear his lines and conceded in our EFL Cup win over Fleetwood Town (September 23), dropped the ball for Neal Maupay to score in our 4-2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion (October 3) and could have been red-carded for a challenge in the box on Virgil van Dijk in our 2-2 draw with Liverpool (October 17).
Ancelotti has backed Pickford publicly on numerous occasions, but he had no choice but to rest him over the weekend.
How did Olsen get on?
Despite conceding two goals and being on the losing side, Olsen put in a good performance and can be happy with his contribution. He stopped Allan Saint-Maximin at close range, thwarted a Sean Longstaff effort and was credited for commanding his area well. Olsen said he was happy with the saves he made but was disappointed with the result.
Nevertheless, Ancelotti should be pleased that he has a second shot-stopper who can be real competition to Pickford. Having two goalkeepers battling for a starting place might get the best from them. Time will tell.
In other news, here’s the latest on Mason Holgate’s toe injury