While the rest of England slowly but surely learns to love Jordan Pickford as much as Everton fans do, it seems the rest of Europe are still trying to work him out.
That’s at least if Mundo Deportivo’s latest on him is anything to go by, with them covering ‘bad boy’ Pickford today but seemingly using that as a compliment for the Everton star.
Pickford has again found himself as one of the heroes for England this summer, with his save in the penalty shootout against Switzerland followed by another solid performance against the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
As usual he celebrated wildly after the final whistle went in that game, joining in with the fans as they revelled in Ollie Watkins’ late winner.
This seems to have earned him more fans in England, where Everton fans have been signing his praises for years, but left everyone else, particularly the Spanish press, a little confused.
They say Pickford is a goalkeeper who is ‘not very methodical’ and what stands out most about him is his ‘wayward and eccentric personality’, which has already won over Gareth Southgate during his time as England manager.
As far as they’re concerned Pickford may not be the best of a sporting level, or indeed the best goalkeeper at Euro 2024, but he is someone for the big moments and has proven that again in Germany.
Indeed he ‘saw himself in the maximum essence’ with his penalty save against Switzerland when, even when he was denied his usual routines, he still stepped up and saved Akanji’s penalty.
Mundo even argue that nobody in the England set up ‘feels his country’ like the Everton goalkeeper does, or that’s how he makes it look anyway. Every game is like ‘witnessing a show’ of fussing, constant corrections, contradictory instructions and epic celebrations according to the newspaper.
This sometimes creates funny and awkward moments with his teammates, but it is obvious he is ‘loved, very loved’.
Even the ‘bad boy’ reputation is actually only a demonstration of how everything he does is passionate, something he doubles down on when there’s a party involved. His ‘purest hooligan style’ is actually just a demonstration of his passion, and Mundo seem to secretly like it.
The Everton man is an enigma to them really, but one this Spanish newspaper actually seems to be quite fond of for their sins. Whether that’s the case after Sunday, remains to be seen.
