As Carlo Ancelotti edges ever closer to replacing Duncan Ferguson in the Goodison Park dugout, the Italian’s appointment could be excellent news to Everton’s under-fire goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford. The England number one has not endured a fruitful campaign so far and having an established elite manager and coaching team arrive at Finch Farm, could be precisely what the stopper needs to get his confidence back.
Last season Pickford kept 14 clean sheets, the most he has ever recorded in a Premier League season, ranking him as the joint third best keeper in the division. Throughout his 38 fixtures, the keeper failed to concede on average every 2.7 games. That figure has dropped catastrophically during the first half of this term though as Pickford has prevented the opposition scoring on just three occasions. In 2019/20 he is now averaging a clean sheet every 5.6 matches, which will be costing Everton precious points.
Surprisingly though the goalkeeper is still making roughly the same number of saves per game, 2.5 this season, compared to 2.4 last. While his number of saves has remained the same, due to a leaky defence the keeping his having a lot more to deal with and he has failed to up his workload. It is backed up by the fact he previously conceded 1.2 goals per game on the way to an eighth-place finish. Though that has risen to 1.7 gals conceded per match, leaving the Toffees in 16th one game short of the seasons mid-point.
An interesting aspect of Pickford’s game is the number of sweeper clearances he is making. Usually, he is adept with his feet, and in the past, it has been one of the standout attributes of the ex-Sunderland stoppers game. But his sweeper clearances are currently on course to drop relative to last season, which is perhaps the best indicator of his dip in confidence if he does not trust himself to deal with problems without using his hands.
Where the England international does deserve credit though is how, despite conceding more, he has cut the mistakes out of his game. Last term, he made four individual errors leading to goals, while this season that has been reduced to just one. Hopefully, Ancelotti’s arrival will signify a turning point in his wretched campaign just in time for England to reap the benefits come Euro 2020.
