The most iconic moments of England enigma Jordan Pickford
- Samuel Wright
- 3 July 2021
Love him or loathe him, Jordan Pickford is certainly a man who has made his presence felt in English and international soccer.
Jordan Pickford has had an impressive career up to this point and established himself as both England and Everton's number one goalkeeper.
While his form has been hit-and-miss at club-level over the past couple of seasons, he has near enough always been a safe pair of hands when in net for the Three Lions. This is especially the case when thinking of his stellar displays at the 2018 World Cup.
Pickford has also established an impressive record with penalties, with him saying 14 spot kicks in his career so far, as well as scoring one himself for England.
Playing in all of England's top five leagues by the age of 21
Pickford spent plenty of time out on loan from Sunderland when a young talent which saw him make a clean sweep of the league structure in England.
The Washington-born keeper signed his first professional contract as a teenager in 2011. In order to get some valuable game-time, he was loaned out to many different clubs in various leagues.
This included the likes of Darlington (National League), Alfreton Town (National League), Burton Albion (League Two), Carlisle United (League One), Bradford City (League One), and Preston North End (Championship).
He eventually made his return to the Blacks Cats and made his Premier League debut on 16 January 2016, completing the set of England's top five leagues.
Shortlisted for PFA Young Player of the Year
Considering he was in goal for a Sunderland team that were convincingly relegated, it is some achievement to even be nominated for an award like this.
Of course, it can be argued that he was having more shots against him meaning he was always going to make saves, but there is certainly no doubting that Pickford's 2016/2017 individual campaign was stellar.
His great performances attracted plenty of interest from other clubs and he eventually joined Everton in the summer of 2017.
Keeping a clean sheet on his Everton debut in Europe and the Premier League
His first competitive game for the Merseysider's came on 3 August 2017 in the Toffees' 1-0 victory away to Slovakian side MFK Ruzomberok in a Europa League qualifying match.
While Pickford was largely untroubled during this contest, it was still great for him to get that first clean sheet under his belt.
To make things even better, nine days later, he also kept a clean sheet on his Premier League debut for the club which was a 1-0 home victory over Stoke City.
He earned it too as he made an excellent save from Xherdan Shaqiri's effort in stoppage time to keep his clean sheet intact and earn his team all three points.
Everton Player of the Season
Despite conceding 70 goals in all competitions, Pickford had a very impressive first season on Merseyside and was deservedly rewarded with the Toffees' Player of the Season.
He also played every minute of every Premier League game throughout this campaign. It may have been a disappointing season for the club, but it was another very good individual one for Pickford himself.
Helping England to a penalty shootout victory
This was arguably the defining moment of Pickford's career to date. It also made him the only England goalkeeper who has helped them win a penalty shootout at a World Cup.
On 3 July 2018, the Three Lions faced Colombia in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
With the game ending 1-1 after 120 minutes, the dreaded penalties were still to come. During the shootout, Pickford saved a penalty from Carlos Bacca which then allowed team-mate Eric Dier to step up and score the decisive kick from 12 yards.
Stellar performance vs Sweden
Pickford backed up those penalty shoot-out heroics with another brilliant performance in the next round against Sweden.
His performance played a key role in helping England reach their first semi-finals at a major international tournament for 22 years.
Although England were generally dominant, Jordan Pickford made some crucial saves to keep the scores level before Jesse Lingard headed them into an unassailable 2-0 lead in the second half.
Howler in the Merseyside derby
Unfortunately for Pickford, he is also responsible for one of the costliest derby errors in the history of the Premier League.
On 2 December 2018, Everton made the short trip to Anfield to take on their arch-rivals Liverpool. With the game about to finish goalless, Pickford parried Virgil van Dijk's volley, which was going over the crossbar, up into the air.
A grateful Divock Origi pounced on it and headed home a 96th-minute winner from close-range.
From this moment onwards, Pickford's performances between the sticks for his club appeared to drop and he is arguably still yet to recover his very best form.
Penalty shootout hero in the Nations League
It seems as though Pickford has become the Three Lions' good luck charm in penalty shootouts.
On 9 June 2019, England faced Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League third-place play-off.
After 120 minutes, the game finished 0-0 meaning the encounter would have to be settled on penalties. Pickford once again turned out to be the hero when scored and then saved the decisive penalty meaning Gareth Southgate's men won it 6-5.
His successful spot-kick also meant he was the first-ever goalkeeper to take and score a penalty for England.
Playing every minute of every Premier League game for three-consecutive seasons
If there is one thing that you cannot fault Pickford for, it is the number of games he has played in goal since joining the Toffees.
In the 2017/2018, 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 campaigns, he played every single minute in the Premier League for the Toffees which is an impressive achievement even for a goalkeeper.
In fact, in his first four seasons since joining the club, Pickford has only ever missed seven Premier League matches which all came in 2020/2021 season. That translates to an impressive 162 appearances in all competitions for them club in just four years.
Badly injuring Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk
On 17 October 2020, Everton hosted Liverpool in one of the most anticipated Merseyside derbies for years.
In the early moments of the encounter, with the Toffees already a goal down, Pickford came rushing off his line and clattered into opposition defender Virgil van Dijk causing the Dutch star to suffer a ACL injury.
Pickford had to endure considerable media criticism for the incident, with many describing it as needlessly reckless and called for him to be retrospectively punished. However, the Premier League resisted those calls.
England heroics in Euro 2020
It's fair to say that Pickford went into Euro 2020 with an awful lot to prove.
His club form was suffering, and many believed Burnley's Nick Pope was outperforming him in the Premier League.
Dean Henderson was also emerging for Manchester United after a fine loan spell with Sheffield United, and there was serious pressure on his England spot.
However, Pope suffered a pre-tournament injury and Gareth Southgate kept faith with Pickford. Whether he would have with Pope available we will never know.
Pickford really took his chance too, keeping a clean sheet in all of England's opening four matches. That run included a huge performance against Germany which saw him make some crucial saves before England were able to settle the tie late in the game.
