Emmanuel Petit was ‘not impressed’ by Jordan Pickford’s performance against Croatia and fears the goalkeeper could cost England the World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel’s side got their campaign up and running with an impressive 4-2 victory over Croatia in Dallas.
A brace from Harry Kane, as well as second-half goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford, saw the Three Lions lay down an early marker in the tournament against their toughest opponents in Group L.
It was far from a perfect display from England, though, with assistant coach Anthony Barry labelling their first half as ‘complicated and confusing’ in a remarkably frank half-time interview.
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And Pickford was one player who attracted scrutiny, with some pundits criticising his attempt to save Martin Baturina’s opening strike as well as his decision-making on the ball more generally.
The veteran Everton shotstopper has been a mainstay for England since making his debut in 2017, with Wednesday’s start his 85th cap for the national team.
But former Arsenal midfielder and World Cup winner Petit has reservations as to whether Pickford is a good enough keeper for a team that has aspirations of winning the tournament.
‘I was not really impressed by Pickford,’ the Frenchman told talkSPORT.
‘I think he should have done better on the first goal, definitely. He made some saves, but I don’t know, I don’t feel it.
‘If you want to go until the end, you need to have one of the strongest goalkeepers in the competition. And that’s my opinion. You may disagree with me, but I’m not really confident with him.
‘The first game, in terms of emotion, it’s always very difficult to cope with that.
Troy Deeney: ‘Pickford doesn’t give you ‘any confidence’
Ex-Watford striker Troy Deeney shares Petit’s fears, telling CBS Sports: ‘There’s just that feeling when I watch Jordan…there’s a shot from 50 yards and it trickles to him and he’s screaming at everyone, “Do your job! Don’t let any shots come in!”
‘Every time he parries one, fouls someone, does whatever, he’s like, “Don’t look at me!”
‘We’re trying to win a World Cup. That’s why we’re here. In my opinion, and respectfully Jordan, because you know I like you. We can’t win it with that guy in goal. He doesn’t give you any confidence.’
‘But again, with the ball at his feet, especially on the line, sometimes when he goes for a free kick or corner, I always have the feeling that something could happen.’
Despite his reservations about Pickford, Petit is still confident that England can make a deep run in this tournament, adding: ‘Croatia is a great country; it’s a huge team, but I’ve been very confident from the start with England.
‘Why? Because the fluidity, the movement, the pace, the intensity, there were the commitment as well. Everything was right from the start. And I was very, very happy to see that.’
And Petit namechecked Three Lions captain Kane as one player who will be pivotal to England’s hopes after his all-action display against Croatia.
‘There is one player particularly that impressed me a lot and that’s Harry Kane,’ he added. ‘You put aside the two goals he scored; it was his defensive work too.
‘At the end of the game, he was the last defender and he put his body just in front of the striker. And I thought to myself, this is typical of a central defender, and he was acting exactly the same way.
‘It doesn’t matter where he is on the pitch; he always does exactly what he takes, you know, in the middle of the park, defensively, up front. He always does the right things all the time.
‘He’s the leader of this team and you can see that it spreads to his teammates. He enjoys what he’s doing, and he plays with so much confidence and he’s so dedicated to the national team. This is for me, something really, really important when it comes from your leader.’
England will resume their World Cup campaign against Ghana on Tuesday in Boston.
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