A Life Between the Sticks

Against Chelsea, Jordan Pickford recorded his eleventh clean sheet of the season, tying Gianluigi Donnarumma in the process. Always a forgotten player until the international breaks, England’s number one remains a perplexing player.

One of the Prem’s stalwarts, determining Pickford’s place amongst the Prem’s best is a difficult task.

With well over 300 appearances in the Prem, few current Prem keepers touch Pickford’s longevity. For almost a decade, through just about every iteration of the club, Everton’s number one stayed in between the sticks.

One of the strangest players to watch, Pickford’s low lights truly reach rock bottom. For a keeper who’s kept his job for as long as he has, it’s strange to have a catalog of mistakes like him. Even without a ton of competition at the spot, conversations over his status as his country’s starter stay contentious.

At the same time, Pickford’s play has remained at well above starting level in the Prem for a decade now. Not built in the mold of the modern keeper, he found a way to push himself into becoming England’s starting keeper. Again, despite managers and projects constantly changing, Pickford stayed alive for both club and country.

Now, as Everton nears a return to Europe, the spotlight returns to Pickford.

A good World Cup and Everton’s revival may finally give him a chance to right his image.

After leaving his boyhood club, Sunderland, Pickford became both Everton’s and England’s starting goalkeeper. Both club and country continue to place their faith in a player who always finds ways to make his flaws highly visible.

Similar to his predecessor, Joe Hart, the lack of any real competition ensured that the starting spot for England’s number one never really left his hands. Unlike Hart, however, there never really came a moment when Everton’s stalwart solidified himself as one of the Prem’s best. Every top performance was soon followed by a lowlight.

For that reason, as well as the strength of the position at the top level in the Prem, Pickford found himself forgotten. Unlike a number of his colleagues at the international level, he finds himself neither at a top club nor on the short list for the Ballon d’Or. As England continues to hunt for an elusive international trophy, many feel that Pickford is the weak link.

While the Englishman clearly lags behind the likes of Donnarumma and Mike Maignan, both his club and country could do a lot worse. The ultimate survivor, he carved out a rather impressive career, even if he never reached the highest level.

Over the course of his Everton career, the club oscillated between various projects and managers. Ownership invested in transfers, including Pickford, but something always came up that made the club spiral downwards. Only now, with Moyes back at the helm and a new stadium, do the clouds over the Toffees’ keeper look to be disappearing.

If this generation of English football had never reached the heights that they have, would Pickford be seen as he is?

Despite the country constantly falling short of an international trophy, it never once seemed to be directly his fault. While bad performances do appear on his England resume, Pickford never reached the lows Hart did at that level.

Pickford’s career thus far, at both the club and country levels, remains much debated.

With arguably the most important period of his career upcoming, a chance appears to completely rewrto rewrite his image.

Something feels different this season for both Pickford and Everton. Taking a deeper dive into his numbers reveals a player finding his stride.

At 32, Pickford stands at the tail end of his prime. Even with that acknowledged, Moyes’ changes brought something out in the English number one. With the club neither being one of the best nor the worst defensive sides, Pickford is able to show off his strengths.

One of the criticisms leveled at the former Sunderland man is his rather small wingspan for a keeper. Many scouts and managers prefer keepers with longer wingspans and larger frames, as they believe this will make saves easier.

Needing to overcome this, he became one of the league’s most agile keepers. This allows him to parry rebounds constantly. In turn, this allows Pickford to prevent follow-up goals, which this season has made him the best at preventing goals.

While he still conceded over 30 goals this season, that shouldn’t all be held against him. He still possesses one of the better save percentages in the league. Additionally, he continues to be a threat coming out of the box to stop attacks.

His shortcomings, however, come in the form of what is expected of a keeper and what killed Hart’s career. Unable to impact the game as a passer, Pickford very much remains a bit of a throwback. One of the lowest passing percentages for a keeper in the Prem, distribution can’t come from him at any level.

The success of both club and player this season has done plenty for their images.

For the first time in his career, Pickford finds himself as one of the Premier League’s best keepers.

Pickford remains one of the most interesting players in football. No other player truly elicits such a low opinion for a player who is just above average.

When he ends his career, Pickford will be remembered for plenty of things, but probably most of all the debates that raged over him.