Danny Mills has claimed that Jordan Pickford now faces a mental challenge after the Everton goalkeeper’s tackle on Virgil Van Dijk injured the Liverpool defender.
Speaking to Football Insider, the former Leeds and Manchester City defender spoke about whether he thinks that the England international could recover from such an incident, saying:
“It’s not easy but you have to be thick-skinned in this day and age.
“You have to say ‘you know what, it is what it is, I have to deal with it, there’s not a lot I can do.’
“You have to take it on the chin, it’s very, very difficult what else can you do in that situation?
“That’s the problem with it.
“It’s difficult and nobody wants to go through it but sometimes you don’t have a choice.”
Should Pickford have been sent off?
Indeed, there is a debate as to whether Pickford should have been sent off for the challenge on Van Dijk in the Merseyside derby.
[freshpress-quiz id=”313242″]
The VAR officials did not deem the tackle to be a red card offence in real time, but the 26-year old could have received a retrospective ban after the game.
This has not happened, so Pickford is free and available to play in the Toffees’ clash at Southampton tomorrow should Carlo Ancelotti decide to keep him in the team.
Will Pickford recover?
Indeed, it is now up to Pickford as to whether he will move on from the incident and thus continue in between the posts for the Toffees. The goalkeeper has made his fair share of mistakes during his time in goal for the Blues, being culpable for four errors which led to goals in the league last season (Sofascore).
The challenge on Van Dijk was another mistake by Pickford, but luckily for him it did not lead to a goal for Jurgen Klopp’s team or indeed a red card.
[freshpress-poll id=”302910″]
The ‘keeper will now have to show a positive mentality to bounce back against the Saints and put the hysteria of the past seven days behind him.
Evertonians, find out which Liverpool player could not forgive Pickford for his tackle here and don’t forget to comment below with your views!
