Jordan Pickford is the number one goalkeeper for club and country, but Tony Cascarino has called the Everton ace a ‘court jester’ in his latest column for The Times.
Cascarino’s claims come just days after Pickford once again kept the Toffees in a game with his vital saves, even if Watford eventually snuck the ball into the net to deal Marco Silva a defeat at his old stomping ground.
The former Republic of Ireland international even notes that Silva’s man was impressive at the weekend, but goes on to suggest that the Portuguese cannot rely on the 24-year-old as he seems to have lost an edge since the World Cup last summer.
Errors against Liverpool and Tottenham offer support to this argument, as Pickford failed to deal with a misplaced shot by Virgil van Dijk before Divock Origi scored. He then failed to communicate with Kurt Zouma before Heung-min Son found the net for Spurs in a horrific misjudgment by the goalkeeper.
“Pickford played ok for Everton against Watford, but I don’t think he’s been the same since he came back from the World Cup,” penned Cascarino.
“Many England goalkeepers over the years seem to lose an edge once they get settled as England No 1, such as David James and Joe Hart.
“Yes, Pickford is playing behind a poor defence but he just feels a bit like a court-jester goalkeeper – he’s a bit erratic and scattergun.
“Goalkeepers want to be known for being reliable, not error-prone.”