Gary Neville has admitted that one key Everton player has proven him completely wrong in recent seasons.
Everton have a total of three players at Euro 2024 this summer and two endured miserable starts in Germany.
Amadou Onana suffered a shock defeat to Slovakia with Belgium yesterday while Vitaliy Mykolenko endured the same fate with Ukraine against Romania.
However, there was a more positive outing for Jordan Pickford as he played a key role in England’s 1-0 victory over Serbia on Sunday.
The Toffees goalkeeper made a couple of crucial stops to help the Three Lions get off to a winning start in Germany.
Pickford seems to have carried his brilliant form into the Euros and has proven to be a reliable man between the sticks for England.
But Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney have admitted they had previous doubts about the 30-year-old.
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Neville and Rooney admit Jordan Pickford has proven them wrong
The former Manchester United duo were discussing the current England players who’d get into the national side from their era.
Both picked Pickford over the likes of Paul Robinson and David James, with Rooney even labelling the Everton man as one of England’s best-ever goalkeepers.
But Neville and Rooney weren’t always convinced by Pickford’s abilities between the sticks.
“I was not convinced by him, three or four years ago, I’ll be honest with you,” Neville said on The Overlap.
“I played with Jordan at Everton and my concern was he gets a bit agitated,” Rooney said. “Joe Hart was the same, Ramsdale’s the same. Jordan was like that.
“I went from playing with Edwin van der Sar, who was the calmest man ever, to Jordan Pickford, so I was a bit unsure. But the way his career has gone, he’s been brilliant, especially for England.”
“I was instinctively nervous about the fact I saw him laughing on the pitch as a goalkeeper at times, which I thought I didn’t want to see a goalkeeper laughing,” Neville added.
“It just lacks seriousness and I thought temperament, composure and stature probably as well. But what I’ve seen, to be fair, in these last three or four years, there’s only one goal I’ve seen him concede in a tournament for England where I thought he should’ve saved that and it was actually the game against Belgium, it was a meaningless game where we lost and ended up getting an easier route to the semi-finals.
“I don’t think he makes a lot of mistakes for England at all. His kicking is pretty good. I think he’s become a big player for England and he’s actually surprised me.
“He’s better for Everton than I thought he would be in the Premier League. So for me, he’s turned it around from where I was in my mind.”
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Pickford’s record for England
Pickford boasts a hugely impressive record for England and there appears to be no doubts that the £30 million man is Gareth Southgate’s main man between the sticks.
In 62 appearances for his country, the shot-stopper has conceded just 45 goals.
He’s also racked up 30 clean sheets during this period, just five behind legendary goalkeeper Gordon Banks.