Jordan Pickford is finally getting the respect one of England's most consistent performers deserves at Euro 2024

Pickford has been England's No.1 since making his debut in a friendly against Germany in 2017. He has faced plenty of competition for his position, from Nick Pope, Jack Butland, Dean Henderson, Sam Johnstone and Aaron Ramsdale, but he has seen all of them off.

The strongest competition has come from Pope and Ramsdale, and there were genuine questions about Pickford's place in the national team when his form for Everton seriously dipped in 2020. Perhaps the absence of crowds in the coronavirus-affected seasons affected his mentality.

The flashpoint came when he clattered into Virgil van Dijk in the Merseyside derby, ending the Dutchman's season in October. Then-coach Carlo Ancelotti had warned him the previous July about his form and in November the Italian dropped Pickford for the match against Newcastle. His exile did not last long, and the next week he was straight back in the line-up to face Manchester United.

Pickford called being dropped "something new for me" a year later, but used the experience positively. He started working with a psychologist and sought to be "the best Jordan Pickford I can be". He has certainly done that.

While Everton have been in a seemingly permanent state of turmoil since Ancelotti's departure in the summer of 2021, Pickford has been a ever-reliable presence between the sticks. He was arguably the reason Everton avoided relegation the following season, producing two phenomenal saves in the space of a minute in the crucial 1-0 victory against Chelsea.

Frank Lampard, Everton's manager at the time, called his reaction save from Cesar Azpilicueta the best in the Premier League era, although his brave intervention to stop Antonio Rudiger's close-range strike with his head was just as impressive.

Pickford was also a key part of Everton's scramble to survive in the 2022-23, turning away James Maddison's penalty in the 2-2 draw with fellow strugglers Leicester City late in the campaign.

Everton avoided the anxiety of a relegation battle towards the end of last season despite being docked a total of eight points for flouting the league's financial rules, and Pickford was a big reason why. He kept 13 clean sheets despite the Toffees finishing 15th. Only David Raya of Arsenal, who finished second, had more shut-outs.

Pickford has rarely been questioned while playing for England, and Southgate is still reaping the rewards for standing by him in 2020. The manager also supported Pickford after the "collateral fallout" from the incident with Van Dijk, calling to check in on him.

“When people say I have been loyal to Jordan he has deserved that,” he explained at the time. “Jordan’s performances have been excellent for us. We have some competition for places, but I would have to say that there is nobody who I think is challenging seriously at the moment to push him out of that position.”

The situation remains the same almost four years later. Pickford's blunder against Belgium in March is one of very few errors he has made in his 66 matches for the Three Lions. In his 24 games across four major tournaments, he has conceded just 17 goals. He also has a stunning save rate of 86 percent in the two Euros he has played in, the second-highest of any goalkeeper in the tournament's history to have played 10 or more games, only trailing Spain legend Iker Casillas.

But most impressive has been Pickford's work in shootouts. When England faced Colombia in the last 16 of the World Cup in 2018, the nation had not won a penalty shootout for 22 years. The last time an England goalkeeper had even saved a penalty in a shootout was David Seaman in 1998, when Pickford was four years old. Pickford ended that two-decades long drought by biffing away Carlos Bacca's penalty, having watched Mateus Uribe's spot-kick crash against the crossbar.

A year later against Switzerland in the Nations League third-place play-off, Pickford saved Josip Drmic's sudden-death penalty to seal victory, having stepped up and scored a spot-kick himself moments earlier. England may have lost their next shootout against Italy in the final of Euro 2020, but Pickford did everything asked of him, saving from Andrea Belotti and penalty expert Jorginho. His denial of Akanji on Saturday meant he has kept out six penalties in four shootouts.

Pickford's water bottle research of Switzerland's penalty takers has gone viral, and that diligence sets him apart from his predecessors. But every team studies opposition penalty habits these days and his presence on the line has been equally important. Against Colombia he would jump up and touch the bar before the taker approached. Against Italy, he danced along the line.

Against Switzerland he returned to touching the crossbar and moving towards each taker, although referee Daniele Orsato prevented him doing this for Akanji's kick. Pickford compensated by staring the Manchester City defender down, touching the bar six times before diving to his left.

Pickford has become the star of each England shootout, even the one they lost, and his confidence flows through the rest of the team. He said: "I trust my process, what I do with my mentality, I know I'm going to save at least one for the lads."

Pickford's interaction with the England fans behind the goal before and after each game has added to his stage persona, while his antics have made an unmissable act. When Xherdan Shaqiri almost caught him out by firing a corner off the top of the post, Pickford got tangled in the net. Once he had freed himself he gestured towards the Swiss playmaker with a thumbs up, as if to say 'nice try'.

Pickford's face pulling and his habit of yelling at his defenders after making a save have made him an online hit, users joking he speaks for the nation in being furious whenever he is forced to do his job.

But the same mannerisms which now feel like Pickford's unique selling point have often been used as a weapon against him. Former Ireland striker Tony Cascarino, for example, took aim at the shot-stopper in a 2019 column for The Times, likening him to a UFC fighter.

"When I watch Jordan Pickford, part of me feels like he should be a cage fighter in the Octagon. He is a hothead who makes a brilliant save now and again that gets him out of trouble. The Everton man is too intense," he said.

Ancelotti did not wish to curb Pickford's emotions, but instead urged him to make little tweaks to his on-pitch persona. “This is his character and it is difficult to change the character of people. On the pitch he has to be focused on what he is doing, knowing his limit and also knowing where is his quality," he said.

"I think sometimes he did a mistake because he thought too much. He has to use his instinct more because that is really good. He did fantastic saves because when he reacts he is really top top."

Micah Richards defended Pickford's persona in 2022, claiming the goalkeeper wouldn’t have got to this place "unless he was this character." He also pointed out that goalkeepers are of a different breed.

"I do like his character, I really do. It’s passion. Sometimes it can be taken overboard but, at the end of the day, every time you work with a 'keeper, they are wild anyway. Every day in training they are always up to something. They are a completely different character to normal players. Peter Schmeichel was one of the best-ever Premier League goalkeepers and he was always animated."

Pickford might have his detractors when it comes to his behaviour, but he is a world away from Emiliano Martinez. The goalkeeper's lewd gesture after winning the World Cup Golden Glove was just one of many eye-catching moments he produced in Qatar, and he was utterly crucial to Argentina finally lifting the trophy.

He made an incredible save to thwart Randal Kolo Muani in the last minute of extra-time in the final against France before proving the hero of the shootout, winding up Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni before they squandered their kicks.

Martinez has won his last four shootouts with Argentina, and the night before England beat Switzerland, he saved two penalties against Ecuador in the quarter-finals of the Copa America, making amends for Lionel Messi's botched Panenka. Before Martinez became La Albiceleste's No.1, his country had lost successive Copa finals in shootouts. Martinez, with some help from Messi along the way, has turned Argentina from nearly men to world and continental champions.

Pickford can have a similar impact on England. He must stay focused but he must also keep on unleashing Hell on his opponents. More grinds await, and Pickford is the perfect man to ensure England keep winning their battles.