Gary Neville has backtracked on his Jordan Pickford criticism by naming him as a key reason for Everton’s Premier League survival.
When the Toffees needed their goalkeeper most, the England number one delivered during the relegation run-in. A dramatic penalty save against Leicester City last month proved the turning point as Sean Dyche steered Everton to survival.
On the final day, Pickford also pulled off a last-gasp save from Matias Vina to keep his clean sheet - and Everton’s top-flight status - intact. His eight shutouts in 2022/23 in spite of the Blues’ poor defending proved the bedrock to survival, with Dyche masterminding four 1-0 victories since taking charge.
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Manchester United legend Neville hailed Pickford for keeping Everton up but the two have contested a subtle feud in recent years. In 2019, the Sky Sports pundit slammed the goalie, accusing him of “laughing” after conceding against Manchester City.
“Why is Jordan Pickford laughing? I don't know what's funny,” Neville said. “It's not funny. He should have saved the second goal and nearly cost his team a fourth.”
This provoked an expletive response from Pickford, who named Neville directly when firing back at his critics. He said ahead of Euro 2020: “It does **** you off. The press, the punters, everybody. Look at Gary Neville, they just want to come for England players.
“Everyone gets stick. That’s part of being an England player. You have got to live with it, you have got to learn. Every England player gets stick. Everyone hates you, for some reason. I just get on with it. I know what I am capable of and I know what I am good at.”
However, Neville appears to have U-turned on his Pickford criticism - highlighting him as the difference-maker to Everton’s season. By contrast, relegated clubs Leicester City and Leeds United changed their goalkeeper throughout the campaign.
“I don’t think Pickford is a world-class goalkeeper,” he told The Overlap. “But if you look at those three teams that were vying to go down, Leeds’ problems were with their goalkeeper, Leicester’s problems with theirs and then you look at Pickford who has actually been stable for Everton.
“That could be the difference. That purely could be the difference in the point or two points or whatever it is.”
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