Speaking recently on the Football Writers Podcast, Richard Amofa discussed Jordan Pickford’s potential omission from Everton’s clash with Liverpool on Saturday.
Since moving to Everton from Sunderland in what was a £25.65 million deal back in 2017, Pickford has gone on to feature 135 times for the club, conceding 189 goals and keeping 38 clean sheets.
Last season, the £23.4 million-rated 26-year-old featured in all 38 of the Toffees’ Premier League fixtures, over which he conceded 56 goals and kept nine clean sheets, averaging a WhoScored season rating of 6.40 – the worst average rating the goalkeeper has earned over the course of a complete top-flight season.
However, despite having played only four Premier League games so far this season, all of which Everton have won, Pickford’s average WhoScored match rating has dropped even further, to a very disappointing 6.22 – ranking him as the club’s fourth-worst performer in the league thus far.
The ‘keeper was one topic of conversation on a recent episode of the Football Writers Podcast, in which Amofa discussed, as a result of Pickford’s seemingly declining level of performance, whether or not he believed Carlo Ancelotti could drop the England international for the Merseyside derby this weekend.
He said: “I would be [surpised if Ancelotti dropped Pickford], only because if he [was going to drop him] I would have expected to see it sooner. He has shown faith in him, but there will [come] a time [when] these mistakes are going to be punished.
“Ancelotti – he’s managed at the top levels, [he’s] managed top players, top goalkeepers, he’s used to managing high profile squads and he’s been ruthless in his decision making over the years, hence why he’s been so successful.
“Pickford will know now that these errors need to be cut out of his game, and [a] new goalkeeper’s come in to provide competition, so, if he doesn’t buck up his ideas, maybe in the next couple of games you might see him out [of] the firing line – almost similar to Kepa [Arrizabalaga].
“Their backline and the goalkeeper, it will hamper them moving forward. They’ve got great attacking players [and] a really solid midfield, it’ll be such a shame to see all that good work go to waste due to sloppy errors at the back.”
Would you drop Pickford for the Liverpool game?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Richard Amofa’s opinion on Jordan Pickford…
From Amofa’s comments, it is clear that, while the journalist is indeed of the belief that if Pickford does not start improving his level of performance then he could find himself left out of Ancelotti’s starting XI, although he does not believe that this will be the case for their clash against Liverpool on Saturday.
However, should Pickford happen to make a costly error in the derby, it is not very hard to imagine at all that he may be taken out of the firing line for a while.