OPINION
Going into the season, Jordan Pickford was a national hero. After putting in a series of world class performances during the World Cup, it seemed like the Everton stopper could do no wrong, but things have slowly soured over the course of this campaign.
A number of shaky displays have left some questioning the 24-year-old, and now he faces something of an acid test in Sunday’s Merseyside derby.
Last time the two sides met, of course, Pickford was widely panned for his role in Liverpool’s stoppage time winner, and now, with the potential to put a real dent in the Reds’ title bid at stake, he will surely come under heavy scrutiny.
There’s no doubt that on his day Pickford is a sublime goalkeeper. His shot stopping ability is second to none, and his distribution is as good as any goalkeeper’s in the league.
Where the former Sunderland man lets himself down, however, is his unfortunate propensity for mistakes.
Rarely, these mishaps are howlers, and far more often they are strange grey areas where his culpability isn’t always blatantly clear.
Whether it’s a misplaced clearance that leads to a goal thirty seconds later, or the decision to rush out at a forward instead of staying at home, Pickford is developing an unfortunate habit for making minor errors that have major consequences.
If he is not careful, these occasional incidents will develop into a reputation, and once a keeper has developed a name for himself as a calamity, it can be hard for him to shake.
That would be a real shame for a keeper of his talents, and starting against Liverpool on Sunday, he must remind everybody of how good he really is.