Pickford says he's in form of his life and insists Everton have turned a corner

10 September 2023 , 21:30

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Pickford says he's in form of his life and insists Everton have turned a corner

His club side might still be struggling and he has yet to keep a clean sheet this season but Jordan Pickford believes he has NEVER performed better than he is doing now.

The only debate surrounding the goalkeeping position in the England squad is about who should be back-up to Pickford. With 55 caps, Pickford is sixth on the appearance list of England keepers and, at the age of 29, he has a very realistic chance of catching David Seaman and Joe Hart, who share second place with 75 caps. Because if a manager believes confidence is a key factor in selecting a keeper, Pickford can look forward to a lot more international appearances.

When he goes to Euro 2024 in Germany, it will be Pickford’s fourth tournament and he admits it has been a learning curve. He explains: “In Russia, I was classed as a rookie, really, and then in football you're never going to have that perfect path. You're going to have dips in your career and it's how you learn from them.

"I feel like it's something I've really worked hard on. I think that's why my performance is consistent and that's why I feel like I'm in the best form of my life.”

Pickford has been in terrific form for club and country (PA)

But even though Pickford has been in good form - he has been the official player of the season at Goodison Park for the last two years - Everton continue to flounder towards the bottom of the Premier League table, having taken just a single point from their opening four games.

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But Pickford believes that total does not reflect the improvement under Sean Dyche. He says: “We have turned the corner. Apart from the Aston Villa game (beaten 4-0), the other three fixtures were very close and we were in control of the Sheffield United game. We have only one point on the board but we can build on it.”

Before he returns to club action, Pickford is likely to win his 56th cap in the friendly against Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday night. Not that Pickford expects it to be very friendly, saying: “It will be competitive against a side in good form.

“You want that competition if you haven’t got qualifiers, you want to be in matches you can learn from and get something out of, going into hostile crowd, different football experiences, things you should thrive off.”

Andy Dunn