England crashed out of the World Cup at the hands of Argentina but was Jordan Pickford to blame for their first goal?
Jordan Pickford has been clearly told whether or not he was to blame for Argentina's first goal
Jordan Pickford has been clearly told whether or not he was to blame for Argentina's first goal(Image: (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images))
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Jordan Pickford divided opinion for his performance in England's World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina. The Everton goalkeeper produced several important saves but has faced criticism for failing to stop Enzo Fernandez's long-range strike.
Lautaro Martinez later grabbed the winner with the holders coming from behind after a goal from ex-Everton star Anthony Gordon. Pickford was spotted in tears at full-time and he has since become one of the trending topics in the wake of the Three Lions' exit.
The 32-year-old arguably encapsulated his whole tournament in one game with an excellent display in Mexico coming before a shaky performance against Norway. He was questioned for his role in their goal and those have continued into the semi-final, with Jude Bellingham among those appearing to want better from Pickford.
With all of that being said, the ECHO rounds up pundit verdicts with our writers also having their say...
Gary Neville
Not gone in the corner, that. He's got to save that, got to save it. He's past it. I think Jordan should save that.
Roy Keane
What a strike, what a strike that is. 'Keeper gets nowhere near it, look at the 'keeper, he's nowhere near it. It's the power.
I think if you look at it, I think he was one of them ones. He was kind of leaning to see it. We’ve always said Pickford, is Pickford really going to be producing amazing saves? He’s been very good for England. Obviously very good for Everton. But is he really a top-class goalkeeper?
Ian Wright
What happened is that when you see it and people continually play it, you’ll see it didn’t go into the side netting. [He was leaning to see it] and then it was too late for the dive.
Glen Johnson
It was a great strike by Fernandez. You drop so deep and invite pressure, England had a few warning signs before the goal with Pickford making a great save from a header and then Argentina also hit the post.
This was a great strike and also the time he had with no pressure on the ball. England needed to be higher up the field, so the outfield players should have been higher up the field which may well have meant Fernandez couldn’t get the shot away in the first place or the shot being blocked.
But to have so much time on the ball to pick your spot. He’s a top player and when you give top players that time, they can find the back of the net.
Mark Jones - ECHO content editor
You can end up sounding pretty daft when trying to come across as an expert in goalkeeping, but one thing you can confidently say is that Jordan Pickford should have been able to see what was coming.
Enzo Fernandez loves a crack from distance and he'd already had three sighters from range, with one coming just seconds before his goal. So it was hardly the most surprising thing to see him draw back his right foot again having been found by Lionel Messi on the edge of the penalty area.
Should Pickford have saved the effort that followed? Well the crucial thing is that he didn't really give himself a chance to. He wasn't set and so Fernandez had much more of the goal to aim at than he should have done.
What was the reason for that? Tiredness, both physical and mental, would have been key to it.
It was interesting to see Pickford calling for the referee to blow for the hydration breaks in both the first and second halves in Atlanta, almost as though he knew that his team-mates needed that breather as they absorbed the extraordinary tension of the occasion.
Argentina broke them in the end, aided by Thomas Tuchel's negativity, and Pickford seemed just as shattered by the experience as anyone else.
Jordan Pickford is consoled by Dean Henderson
Jordan Pickford was visibly emotional at full-time
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Aaron Morris - Sports Hub Live Writer
While I can understand the frustrations of fans, who will want to point the finger of blame toward a particular player, Pickford is not to be made a scapegoat of. The goalkeeper sees the ball incredibly late as a result of John Stones, Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers obstructing his view, the ball is curling away from him with pace as he dives, and he is at full stretch as it unfortunately soars past him.
While it’s not exactly on a postage stamp and is at a decent height, Fernandez also manages to find the back corner of the net - and not ‘in the middle of the goal’ as Bellingham seemingly opined in anger soon after.
Rather than directing frustration toward Pickford, who may I add had a stellar match up until that point - saving a point blank header from Nicolas Gonzalez moments earlier - more needs to be asked of the England defence and the tactics deployed by Tuchel.
Why was Fernandez afforded so much time on the ball in a dangerous position, when the Chelsea midfielder has proven time and time again how devastating he can be from such a range?
Why was Tuchel happy to invite pressure from the 55th minute onward, knowing fine well the attacking threat that Argentina have against a low block? Why did Stones and Ezri Konsa switch off and give Lautaro Martinez a free header for the winner?
These are the questions that England fans should be asking, as opposed to ‘why couldn’t Pickford stop a wondergoal from the edge of the area?' when fans would be applauding it as the save of the tournament had he have denied Fernandez there and then.”
Kieran Horn - Sports Hub Live Writer
The discourse surrounding whether or not Jordan Pickford should have saved Enzo Fernandez’s long-range striker largely stems from the high expectations many have of the England goalkeeper.
It is a superb and fast hit from the Chelsea star but I do think Pickford should move across his goal quicker. My bigger issue with the goal is the lack of pressure on Fernandez.
Elliot Anderson gets drawn out to double up on Messi, which is totally fair enough, but once that happens, his team-mates need to react and at least one player further out to block any potential shots.
Jude Bellingham realises just too late and unfortunately the amount of bodies in the box likely made it difficult for Pickford to see exactly how fast the ball was flying towards his goal.
Yes, Pickford maybe should have done better but he is not the only England star at fault.
Matty Hewitt - Sports Hub Live Writer
One thing I won’t be doing, is placing any blame on Jordan Pickford for Argentina’s equaliser. The England goalkeeper doesn’t see the ball until late with the team in front of him, switching off.
They’d just had a warning in the phase of play prior to the corner, with Pickford tipping the shot over the bar. Then, they allow Argentina to play the resulting corner kick short, just as they had done on previous attempts. It wasn’t as though this short corner ploy was anything to take them by surprise?
England aren’t quick enough to jump at the corner. Jude Bellingham needs to be ten yards higher up the pitch and let Dan Burn deal with the Argentina man in the box. He may have been England's star of the tournament, but he loses his marker from the corner, then has to go round the back of England defenders to find his man again, while Burn stands free.
Burn should have been screaming at Bellingham to squeeze up and onto Fernandez, who is completely unmarked on the edge of the area. If he’s higher up the pitch, he stops that shot.
Jordan Pickford seemingly got nowhere near Enzo Fernandez's strike from distance
Jordan Pickford seemingly got nowhere near Enzo Fernandez's strike from distance
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Amie Wilson - Sports Hub Live Writer
I think it’s easy to point the finger at Jordan Pickford in the situation, and at first glance, Fernandez’s goal isn’t in the corner. The first instinct then is to look at the goalkeeper.
But, it feels harsh to say that he would have been expected to save it - yes, his positioning did leave probably more of the goal available than maybe should have been (this is coming from someone who is far from a goalkeeping expert). But, Pickford doesn’t see the ball until late due to the England defenders, he has fractions of seconds literally to react.
I think it’s one of those that if he’d have saved it, we’d have been talking about what a brilliant save it was, just as he did a few minutes earlier to deny Nico Gonzalez at point-blank range.
Much of the debate was about how defensive England went after taking the lead. Doing so early against players of Argentina’s quality was always going to be a risk and probably relies on Pickford stepping up when needed.
He did so a few minutes before, but it’s not something that England should have relied on.
Joe Krishnan - Sports Hub Live Writer
Goalkeepers are football’s most common scapegoats. Their job is to ultimately protect the goal and try to minimise the number of attempts they concede. When a goal goes in, the majority of the time they are seen to be at fault unless it’s a massive blunder from a defender. But they’re in the unique position of having very little control over the sheer number of shots that they face.
Jordan Pickford won’t need telling he could’ve saved that Fernandez piledriver on another day. He would insist on it. That being said, England were caught napping from the short corner. Fernandez had already threatened with two or three testing efforts from distance. Why didn’t Thomas Tuchel put at least one man on him? By the time England’s outfielders tried to close him down, it was too late.
Sure, Pickford will be disappointed with failing to keep it out. But he also made a terrific save to deny Nicolas Gonzalez from point-blank range. He was the last line of defence in this exhausting battle and unfortunately, Argentina overwhelmed him in the end. That’s on Tuchel and the defence as much as it is on the Everton stopper’s shoulders.