Greg O’Keeffe deliberated over Jordan Pickford’s future at Everton, during a Q&A on The Athletic.
What did he say?
Everton ended up securing the relatively comfortable scoreline of 3-1 against Crystal Palace, thanks to goals from Bernard, Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
However, things were far less comfortable for the Toffees at one stage, with Jordan Pickford at the heart of the big moment.
After Bernard had put the men in blue ahead, the England international allowed Christian Benteke’s fairly tame strike to go through his legs, in what can definitely be classed as a mistake.
The goalkeeper did spread himself well to deny the Belgian late on, but his involvement in Palace’s goal still stuck in the mind.
When O’Keeffe was asked whether he feels Everton need a new goalkeeper, he replied: “I wonder what Ancelotti will think. He’s spoken v positively about Pickford but in other circumstances that mistake could have been very costly.”
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Difficult decision
The two aforementioned moments arguably summarise Pickford’s inconsistent nature, as he made a highly impressive save, while also dropping a basic error.
Therefore, it may feel as though Carlo Ancelotti has a decision to make regarding the 25-year-old.
Pickford has kept six clean sheets this season, conceding an average of 1.5 goals per game, while making 2.4 saves.
Did he play for Everton? Simple question but a lot tougher than you think…
However, he has made two errors that have led to goals, as well as another one that resulted in the opposition taking a shot.
It is this tendency of having an occasional calamitous moment that could put some doubts in the manager’s mind – as O’Keeffe mentioned, that mistake could have proved to be costly on another day.
Therefore, it will be interesting to see whether there is a decision made on this when the summer transfer window comes around.
Meanwhile, one Everton man has rubbished any lingering transfer reports…