If Jordan Pickford does his best work when the chips are down, we might be about to see a tournament masterclass from the England goalkeeper.
Somewhat lost in the aftermath of the win against Croatia was just how uncharacteristically shaky Pickford was.
Appearing uncomfortable with Thomas Tuchel’s orders to play it out from the back at pace, he got it with both barrels when the England boss railed against him for opting to pick the ball up rather than recycling quickly to his right.
“You know what you’re supposed to do, do as I told you!” Tuchel told him.
It didn’t end there. Whisper it quietly, but he should have done better for Martin Baturina’s first-half leveller too. Stronger hands were required to cope with a long-range drive that was, admittedly, allowed by some porous defending by England’s inexperienced backline.
Can you remember a Pickford performance like it in a major tournament? That sort of thing just doesn’t happen to the Everton man. 85 caps – the most of any keeper in major tournaments – and it is a measure of the man that you can barely pick out a bad one, especially when the pressure is on.
But it did not feel like vintage Pickford last week – and that puts him under a bit of pressure.
Tuchel is not going to change his goalkeeper mid-tournament but long-term, Pickford’s place is being threatened by the emergence of a confident James Trafford as Premier League performer of pedigree.
His chances of dislodging Pickford for this summer’s tournament were ruined by his move to Manchester City but he is seeking another transfer and if he becomes a No 1 elsewhere, Pickford will face a proper challenge for the first time since his debut in 2017. So this is no time to let standards drop.
After all, this is not an England camp for the faint-hearted. Anthony Barry’s abrasive half-time assessment was big news back home on ITV but here in the team’s camp they don’t really see what all the fuss is about.
Tuchel has managed to create an environment that is both relaxed and relentless. On Saturday, for example, he was imploring Djed Spence to “wake up” in the training session segment in which media were allowed to observe. Protecting egos is not a priority.
So Pickford will have been told – in no uncertain terms – that what he served up on opening night wasn’t at the level we have come to expect. It is probably what he needed to hear.
Pickford, you see, is someone who plays better when he adopts a siege mentality. His former mentor Kevin Ball, an academy coach when a skinny Pickford turned up at Sunderland, recalls a youngster who needed to be challenged when things felt a bit complacent.
Read more
He used to play him up a couple of years at Sunderland and there is a quote from an interview we did before the last World Cup that sums up Pickford perfectly.
“He had a very challenging nature which I loved,” Ball told The i Paper.
“At times, I could manipulate that and I knew he’d be tempted to turn around and think ‘I’ll effing show you’.”