Former England international Gary Neville recently said on the Overlap that he once doubted England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s ability, but now he has been convinced by his outstanding performances.
Pickford played a key role in England’s 1-0 win over Serbia, making several crucial saves to give the Three Lions a good start in Germany. Under Southgate, Pickford has been the undisputed first-choice goalkeeper, and the Everton man has proven himself to be England’s most reliable keeper.
Pickford did not win over everyone from the start, at least not Manchester United legends Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney. On The Overlap, the two admitted they previously had doubts and prejudices about Pickford.
Neville and Rooney, while discussing which current England internationals would have made their era’s national team, unanimously chose Pickford as the starting goalkeeper over Paul Robinson or David James, with Rooney even calling the Everton man one of England’s best goalkeepers of all time.
Rooney said: “I played with Jordan at Everton and my concern was he was a little bit too emotional. Joe Hart was like that, Ramsdale was like that, Jordan is like that too. Because I played with Van Der Sar, who was the most composed person in the world, if you make a goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, I’d be a little bit unsure (if it’s a good choice). But his career has been fantastic, especially for England.”
Neville, on the other hand, said Pickford “won him over”. Neville said: “He sometimes smiles on the pitch and that made me nervous because I don’t want to see a goalkeeper smiling, it’s not serious enough and I think his temperament, composure and authority wasn’t there. But to be fair, he’s only made one mistake in the last three or four years when he’s played for England, the one against Belgium. He rarely makes a mistake, he’s technically good, I think he’s become a big part of this England team, he’s completely turned my opinion around.”
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