With everything that is going on at Everton at the moment, fans would be forgiven for completely forgetting that this Friday marks the beginning of a fresh international tournament.
The European Championships, hosted this time in Germany, is set to dominate the summer alongside the Copa America, and once again, England will fancy themselves as favourites.
There are plenty of Evertonians who will not care about the national team, and understandably so given how the nation has often treated the city of Liverpool.
However, those same fans will likely still tune in, purely to see how one of their star men performs on the biggest stage…
Tom Heaton praises Jordan Pickford
Speaking to talkSPORT just yesterday, they chatted with to Tom Heaton, who has just received a call-up to the England squad ahead of the European Championships, which kickstarts this Friday.
Whilst only there as a training goalkeeper, and therefore not set to add to the three caps he earned between 2016 and 2017, his presence is expected to be hugely important for the likes of Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and Dean Henderson, with the former likely to steal the spotlight as the true number one.
All eyes are on him, as always, but the 38-year-old, who still is contracted to Manchester United despite having made just three appearances since joining in 2021, remains confident in his abilities.
He claimed: ‘I think Jordan’s performance has been absolutely outstanding. Aaron and Dean obviously, you know, Aaron, young goalkeeper, done exceptionally over the last few years, Deano the same. Obviously, I know them all individually really well and they all offer something slightly different, so I am delighted to be working with them.’
Everton’s Jordan Pickford will be key to England’s success
Ironically, given the reaction from Evertonians to Jarrad Branthwaite’s England omission from the 26-man squad, if England are to do well in the imminent Euros, it will be with an Everton player at its core.
Already the former Sunderland shot-stopper, who moved to Goodison Park for a then-club-record fee of £30m in 2017, has proved himself an invaluable asset to the national team on numerous occasions.
His first foray onto that scene was during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he made some outstanding saves to help them fly into the semi-finals, losing to Croatia.
A particularly imperious display against Colombia to reach that stage, including a big save in the subsequent penalty shootout, earned him deserved praise.
Then, during the 2020 Euros in which Italy won, he again starred, conceding just two goals all competition and then saving two more penalties in that shootout, which they would inexplicably lose.
Despite the undeserved criticism he has often received throughout his career, Pickford remains one of England’s most important players. Any success they earn this summer will likely see him at the heart of it.
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