Jordan Pickford has won 61 caps for England. (Image: Getty)
Former German international Didi Hamann has pinpointed Jordan Pickford as the reason that England won’t win Euro 2024. The Everton keeper has become a mainstay for the Three Lions under Gareth Southgate, and is one of just five surviving players from the manger’s first international tournament in charge at the 2018 World Cup.
And with 61 appearances, he’s England fourth most capped international in Germany, with only John Stones, Kyle Walker, and Harry Kane winning more.
But Hamann, who himself won 59 caps for his country, is anything but convinced.
The former Liverpool, Newcastle, and Manchester City midfielder is now working as a pundit, and told the In the Zone podcast that the England No.1 lacks the composure to perform over a number of matches. “My worry would be Jordan Pickford,” he said.
“He's a good keeper, but I think his temperament lets him down at times. In a tournament when you might play seven games, there will be setbacks - you need a keeper who calms his team-mates down.
“I think Pickford does the opposite and this is where I've got my worries and question marks. I don't think England win a big title with Pickford.”
Didi Hamann has become an outspoken pundit. (Image: Getty)
Hamann’s brutal dismissal of the keeper is unlikely to deter the views of Southgate, who has long made the Sunderland youth product his first choice. And Pickford himself has never appeared short of match practice, publicly backing himself ahead of Sunday night’s clash with Serbia.
"It's 61 caps now for me. I work hard off the pitch and on the pitch I do everything right to the best of my ability," he said in a press conference this week. “I’m 30 now and I keep improving every day. If there's anything I can learn, I want to keep trying my best to improve. That's what keeps me pushing.
"That's why it's my fourth major tournament. That's why I have won Everton's player of the year for the last three seasons. I know what I'm doing and I know I keep getting better. Hopefully I'm appreciated and hopefully this tournament is a success."
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The 30-year-old debuted under Southgate in November 2017, but it was the following year in Russia where he rose to prominence. During the last-16 clash with Colombia, he saved from the spot from Carlos Bacca to seal his nation's first World Cup penalty shoot-out victory.
