“He’s not going to change now” - Roy Keane hits out at England star after Nations League defeat to Greece
Roy Keane slammed England star Jordan Pickford's performance against Greece on Thursday, October 10. The Three Lions lost 2-1 at the Wembley Stadium in their League B Group 2 clash.
Pickford started in goal but had multiple erroneous moments in the game. In the first half, he intercepted a ball outside the box. However, instead of passing or clearing it, he dallied on it and gave Greece the possession. Anastasios Bakasetas took a shot at goal and looked destined to go in but Levi Colwill acrobatically cleared it off the line.
Speaking about the incident at half-time, Manchester United legend Roy Keane said on ITV (via Mirror):
"It sends a message about concentration levels, and that spreads throughout the team. Again there's a lack of urgency.
"What's he doing?! Do it quickly. Brilliant defending, very unlucky by Greece but a lovely message for defenders - never give it up. He chased it and did brilliant. But not a good message from Pickford to send."
Arsenal legend Ian Wright was also a part of the conversation and said:
"Here again, he looks all over the place. He gets caught in no man's land. It's very jittery, Pickford."
Keane then added:
"That will always be there with Pickford. He's not going to change now."
Pickford also missed after coming out for a corner in the first half but England received a foul after Konstantinos Mavropanos thought he had scored. The Everton goalkeeper also gave the ball away in the second half which led to Greece putting the ball in the back of the net. However, it was ruled out for offside.
Lee Carsley backs his decision to play a false 9 in Harry Kane's absence for England
With Harry Kane missing due to an injury, England's interim manager Lee Carsley decided to play Jude Bellingham as a false 9 against Greece. He had Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke on the bench but went with the Real Madrid man instead. While Bellingham scored a goal in the 87th minute, he often drifted in midfield, which left Greece's defenders nothing to worry about.
When asked if England will persist with the formation after the defeat against Greece, Carsley said (via Mirror):
"We tried something different and tried to overload the midfield. We tried it for 20 minutes yesterday, we experimented, and disappointed it didn't come off. It's unrealistic to expect too much and we will have to try again. All the goals were from mistakes, which is disappointing.
"It is definitely an option going forward. When you have someone of Kane's quality though it rules it out when he is available. But in the future you have to have the courage and ability to try things. We tried something different. It doesn't change anything. My remit is to do the three camps."
England are now second in their group, three points behind Greece. They will next face Finland away on Sunday, October 13.