Jonathan Gould heaped praise on Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for defying the current trend when it comes to sweeper keepers.
The retired Scotland international, who now coaches for Middlesbrough, shared that too much focus is put on a shot-stopper being good with his feet nowadays which he believes is causing young keepers to lose the art of playing the ball long.
However Gould claimed that Pickford was the expectation to the rule as he is able to play short and has a fantastic range when it comes to his goal kicks.
“There is so much focus on how a goalkeeper deals with the ball at his feet these days,” the 50-year-old with two Scotland caps to his name told The Sun.
“We have to be very careful we don’t lose sight of what good goalkeeping is really about. We can get carried away with the distribution side of things.
“The academy kids now are brilliant with short passes but they have lost the art of going long with accuracy.
“Pickford is an exception to the rule. He’s multi-faceted. I watched him as a kid at Preston and the thing that stood out was his presence — even though he isn’t the biggest — and his kicking!
“He’s the one goalkeepers talk about among themselves as being the best around with his accuracy over distance.
“The irony is he was picked ahead of everyone for the World Cup because of his feet — yet when we look back on Russia we all remember him for his saves not for any passes he made.
OPINION
This is high praise for Pickford indeed as Gould clearly doesn’t like the new trend among top-flight goalkeepers. The coach, who has worked with England legend Peter Shilton, clearly doesn’t want the art of goalkeeping to become lost as shot-stoppers start to mimic outfield players with their fancy footwork. The Toffees are lucky to have the 24-year-old shot-stopper on their books as it’s hard to find a flaw in Gould’s assessment of him. Pickford shone at the World Cup with England due to making some vital saves and stood out for the Toffees’ last season despite have a calamitous defence in front of him. Hopefully the 24-year-old can continue to be expectation to this new rule regarding sweeper keepers as it means he won’t cause Toffees supporters to have their nerves jangled every time the ball goes near their goal. Pickford appears to have a sensible head on his young shoulders so it’s unlikely that he is going to start pulling out risky moves in his own penalty area anytime soon.