England were beaten 2-1 by Greece at Wembley, with Jordan Pickford enduring a difficult night between the sticks – and Roy Keane didn’t hold back in his criticism of the Everton stopper.
Roy Keane was unsparing in his critique of Jordan Pickford’s performance during England’s 2-1 loss to Greece at Wembley. Despite a late goal from Jude Bellingham that looked set to salvage an undeserved draw for the Three Lions in their Nations League clash, Vangelis Pavlidis secured a stunning victory with his second goal of the evening.
England’s defence appeared vulnerable throughout the match, with two offsides before half-time providing some relief, along with Levi Colwill’s remarkable goalline clearance and an offside call against Konstantinos Mavropanos aiding Pickford, who had a particularly erratic first half.
Commenting on ITV during the interval, Manchester United legend Keane did not mince words about the England goalkeeper. He sharply criticised Pickford’s moment of losing the ball far from his goal: “It sends a message about concentration levels, and that spreads throughout the team. Again there’s a lack of urgency.”
Keane also expressed disbelief at Pickford’s actions: “What’s he doing?! Do it quickly. Brilliant defending, very unlucky by Greece but a lovely message for defenders – never give it up. He chased it and did brilliant. But not a good message from Pickford to send.”
Fellow pundit Ian Wright joined the discussion, pointing out Pickford’s shaky performance: “Here again, he looks all over the place. He gets caught in no man’s land. It’s very jittery, Pickford,” he observed
Roy Keane, the ex-Manchester United skipper, didn’t hold back on his critique of Jordan Pickford, highlighting an ongoing flaw in the Everton goalkeeper’s game by commenting:
“That will always be there with Pickford. He’s not going to change now.”Keane’s track record of criticising Pickford was brought into focus again following previous remarks made after a disappointing Everton performance.
The Irishman laid into Pickford during his analysis on Sky Sports, saying: “Pickford for the goal… my goodness. He looks so small in there. There is no spring, he’s not anticipating. Micah (Richards) said before the game he’s a top keeper. He’s not.”- The Mirror UK