An hour after the final whistle and Jordan Pickford could still feel the sting of his war wound as he headed home.
“Ooof! said the England keeper, half-smiling and half-grimacing as he revisited his game-shaping intervention that secured Everton’s first win of the season. “It hit me flush! It was Troy Deeney as well, wasn’t it?
This was not just a little knock, Deeney unloaded from 12 yards but Pickford would not be beaten and put his face in the way of the shot. His nose, which was still tingling, bore the brunt. Still — no pain, no gain and a 1-0 win on a difficult afternoon, settled by Bernard’s first half strike, made it all worthwhile.
“I have to help, be a leader on the pitch and off the pitch if I can,” said Pickford, who also made a smart stop to deny Etienne Capoue in the first half. “On the pitch especially. I have got to demand and help the lads in front of me.”
There were times last season when it seemed as if there was too much impetuosity attached to Pickford’s performances. Worst of all, he made headlines for his involvement in a pub melee on Mother’s Day. Talent has never been an issue for Pickford. The only question was whether he could keep his emotions in check and the way he spoke on Saturday indicated a new level of maturity.
“I like criticism because it makes me want to get better,” said Pickford, who has now kept 10 clean sheets in his last 13 Everton appearances. “I work hard on and off the pitch, in the gym. It shows the character I have got. It doesn’t faze me too much if I make mistakes because I will learn from them. You will get criticised. That’s the industry we are in. When you have England No 1 stamped on your back, you are always going to get criticised, if you do good things or bad things. But you learn from it. It’s great.”
