Everton position by position: goalkeeper

As the Premier League shutdown continues, a look at where Everton are regarding each position in the team and what, if anything, needs to be done to improve it.

So lets start this review with a position in the team where traditionally Everton have always been strong: goalkeeper.

Just like England, Everton have a great history of fielding outstanding goalkeepers, going right back to Ted Sagar in the thirties and forties, through Gordon West in the sixties to Neville Southall in the eighties and nineties and most recently, Tim Howard.

It’s fair to say, the present incumbent Jordan Pickford, has some way to go to match the consistent excellence and achievements of such outstanding predecessors.

Pickford has become one of the most frustrating and enigmatic of the current Blues players. He divides opinion, although given his increasingly erratic form this season, there are probably more doubters than supporters now!

Pickford has obvious qualities. He is a terrific athlete and makes some truly brilliant, reflex saves from time to time. He also has a good left foot and is very comfortable on the ball, something that is obviously regarded as important in the modern game. He’s pretty sound in terms of his distribution overall, although this part of his game has declined recently.

But apart from a nagging concern about whether he has enough height and reach for today’s game, there are some obvious and significant problems he has to deal with.

The most important is his concentration, or rather lack of it. Far too often, Pickford’s ability to concentrate lets him down and proves costly to his team. He seems to have a particular weakness for being distracted during games by things going on off the pitch, and this is especially worrying.

A game last season against Newcastle United away, springs to mind and was the perfect example of this and how costly it can prove to Everton.

It’s axiomatic, but a goalkeeper must be able to stay focused and maintain concentration throughout the ninety minutes and beyond, whatever distractions there are.

Even if he hasn’t had a single shot to face for the entire match, one momentary lapse can prove decisive. Although to be fair, lapses of concentration late in games, especially during the often extended injury time in the Premier League, seems to be a problem for the whole team!

Another related issue is anticipation. Too often Pickford seems surprised by shots and doesn’t appear to have anticipated the end result of opposition attacking moves, forcing him to make often spectacular point-blank reaction saves.

These look great on the highlight films, but sometimes they betray a keeper who is too often getting caught on the back foot.

I have always felt that although such spectacular saves are good to watch, the best goalkeepers don’t need to make too many of these saves as they are anticipating what is happening in front of them and getting into the right position to cut out a ball or close down an opponent quickly before he can get a shot off.

Of course you can’t always do that. But having that kind of anticipation is crucial to preventing a lot of attempts against you. As the more attempts you face as a keeper, the more likely you are to concede no matter how great an athlete and shot-stopper you are.

Obviously you also need a decent defence in front of you to prevent those shots in the first place, something that has certainly been lacking far too often recently. But the best keepers get into good positions early so they can better anticipate what might happen, especially of they’re unsure of the players in front of them.

One final problem is that Pickford is not a natural leader. Indeed, this is yet another issue with this Toffees team; the lack of leaders throughout the side.

But keepers themselves often have to be prepared to lead, be loud and vocal to ensure that the players in front of them are organised properly. Pickford doesn’t seem to be that type.

So all this leaves Everton with a quandary.

Pickford is still young by goalkeeping standards and so has time to improve and mature. However these sorts of problems have been getting more pronounced over the past few campaigns and in fact Pickford’s form has declined steadily since the World Cup in 2018, when he was one of the standout players in England’s run to the semi-finals. This doesn’t bode well for the future.

What of the other goalkeepers currently on the Blues books?

None of the other options inspire much real confidence unfortunately. Although Jonas Lossl is a solid, experienced player, he’s not top drawer. While Joao Christian is a very young and inexperienced keeper who also had a less than impressive loan stint at Reading recently.

More from Prince Rupert's Tower

There are some excellent goalkeepers around Europe, some of whom Everton have been linked with, such as Gianluigi Donnarumma. But such high-profile targets are at a premium and the Toffees would face stiff competition from clubs like Chelsea, for his signature.

There are other young keepers who might be available such as French keeper Gautier Larsonneur, who is playing in Ligue 1 for Brest.

Again he has all the necessary qualities, but would he be ready for the Premier League? I think if a player like Larsonneur is available for a very reasonable fee, then he would make a good signing, at the very least to give Pickford real competition, which might force him to improve his game.

My own view though is that the priority should be strengthening the defence, concentrating on centre-back and right-back, first of all. Although I have plenty of doubts about Pickford long-term, lets see if he can do better with a stronger defence in front of him.