Pickford stars in historic England win over Spain

On the other hand, he's nearly cost England a penalty. Theatrics with the ball.

Fantastic performance by the team tonight and Jordan's kicking when "getting rid" was excellent.

They can make mistakes but, as long as they are not costly, who cares.

A good win for England but Spain, like Germany, may need to rebuild as the old guard creaking somewhat.

His passing was appreciated massively by Kane for the second goal, a big thumbs up as team mates surrounded him.

When Pickford comes up on the forum, my only misgivings are his temperament. I prefer my keepers to be calm and collected. He looks anything but! Often agitated and too anxious to intervene in the game. Tonight was no different, but that should ebb with experience.

We saw the best and the worst. But he is box office!

Any negatives will be addressed and he will only get better as he discomposed second half.

I didn't see the Iceland game but I read a French report on it and they portrayed it as a case of the Swiss goalie putting in a Superman display to hold specifically Sigurdsson at bay.

IMO, Pickford was very much a tad of good and a tad of bad on the night!

But what happened to England in the second half? Same players, different team!

Jordan I think will be the real deal and hopefully will grow out of these occasional howlers. I think his general positioning is better this season, he is key to us going on a run and we need to with tough fixtures coming up.

Ice Hockey Goalkeepers must be the craziest of all!

Quite often last night he would fail to complete his approach to an opposing player with a tackle just as he did numerous times with us. Other times he would be tidy on the ball and keep it simple, just as he did with us or play a good cross field ball, again, exactly like I saw him play at Goodison.

I hold no grudge whatsoever against the lad but what I see is really no different from what I've seen of him before, apart from ONE important factor and that's that he now plays for a high-profile Sky team and, IMHO, the pundits look at him in a totally different light because of that and that alone.

Jim, don't you think Jordan is like George Wood? George would hurl himself across the goal to collect a backpass, playing to the crowd. He was a really good keeper for us til his Scotland debut when Keegan embarrassed him and he was never the same for us again.

Jordan will hopefully fulfill his potential.

There were one or two dodgy moments from Jordan though, most avoidable. He will learn from his mistakes hopefully. Particularly, I don't want him to be trying his George Best moves against Wilfred Zaha on Sunday.

One thing I wish he would stop doing now though, is this tendency to parry shots rather than trying to catch the ball. It seems to be the modern way and is probably down to coaching, but there's a time to knock the ball away and a time to gather it and end the danger in the box. When you parry the ball, it's down to luck where it ends up, so for me it should only be a last resort, rather than the norm as it seems to be in the modern game.

Yes also nuts! But well padded!

Beating teams like Malta and Moldova counts for nothing so one will put the accolades on hold to see what happens down the line.

The ball simply moves too much in the air, it's too light, and too unpredictable. Cristiano Ronaldo Aveiro is a “free-kick expert” for simply toeying it on the valve and trying to make it move unpredictably in the air. I bet Sheedy would have been able to do even more amazing stuff with these balls.

I loved Koeman, when our manager, giving some YouTube guys a freekick masterclass. That's one part of the game you never lose. He declined to show them how to do a Ronaldo, scoffing at it as if it was beneath him (it was).

He often fields the ball with on his knees down & hands out in front especially on ground shots, little to no swerve there. He goes at the ball instead of letting it come to him. His issue there is partly technical.

However, technique is not the issue always for my money. He is far too interested in what he wants to do next which is to affect the game. This is an excellent thing – please don't misunderstand me, but that does lead to a tendency to mishandle the ball.

My previous post, I said I need to see him calmer, this will help balance the need to distribute quickly with handling the ball better. I'm sure it will come but it needs work.

Attempting to do so leaves your keeper physically vulnerable and often on the floor. Goalkeepers are coached to punch to stay in the game not on the floor out of it.

If you fluff your punch, you are still in most scenarios upright and able to react to the next phase of play. Fail to catch a ball and you are most likely to be on the floor under contact and unable to react.

In the same way, defenders are now taught to stay up and not go to ground: same principle. Tactically you stay in the game and you also reduce injury as there is less contact.

But some great ball chat though!

We have simply been so dreadful for so long that emerging top talent recognise that they will develop better elsewhere. That has proven to be the case with both these players; if we keep targeting them for abuse, we will see the same pattern with Lookman, Davies and other younger players. So let's stop deluding ourselves.

Fridos, Wembley Trophies, and one evil brushed leather Casey were strewn across our yard as a kid, in various states of inflation. The Casey was a birthday present when I was about 9, my dad beaming with pride when he gave it.

Problem was that, when kicked, it didn't really move. When headed, nausea and dizziness followed for some time. When the ball was left out in the rain, then it became a threatening presence. A leather-clad boulder impersonating a footy ball.

Kicking it when wet would cause your metatarsals to fragment into a thousand shards. But these things repair In 15 mins when you're nine. Heading it when wet would cause permanent brain damage. Hang on... that explains a lot.

(See here: http://www.oldfootballgames.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=548174)

Both very popular items in Sullivan Sports (Old Swan) in the late 60s and early 70s.

I think one point being missed with Barkley is the role he is playing. Martinez used him as a Number 10 – a role in which he had his moments but he was also profligate. Koeman tried him in the same role, then he got injured. Chelsea have used him as a Number 8.

Ross himself said in The Echo that he had played as a Number 8 prior to that long-term injury he had right before he broke into the first team. Essentially, he has gone back to his original role and he is playing better. The mistake from Everton's perspective, I would say, was Martinez shoe-horning him into the Number 10 role which he had the technical skill for but not the judgment. Everton lacked a better alternative for Number 10 so we deployed Barkley there.

The Number 8 is more of a bread-and-butter, water-carrier role. So you're not relying on a Number 8 to make the correct decision with a killer ball in and around the box. It is similar to what happened with that other water-carrier, Deschamps. When he first came along, he was similarly forward-playing and had a lot of assists and goals. When he made the move to Juventus, he shifted to the water-carrier because he lacked the wherewithal to play the Del Pietro role.

It would be interesting to hear from himself about the lack of coaching at Everton.

That was under the Klogg and BBS, but he and Everton have moved on to hopefully better places.

Jordan will learn with every game, and so – as with many keepers – they don't peak until their 30s.

Onwards and upwards for Everton.

While watching it, the 'Only in America' thought went through my head. Surely a plastic fantastic Shoot ball from the 80's does the same job and for a quid would be a lot cheaper.

Ross Barkley has undoubted skill and, after his injuries and Koeman, his confidence seemed shot. He is coming back slowly but he really isn't doing anything more than many English midfielders at present and I was surprised at his sudden recall to the England squad... but then, many things Southgate does surprises me.

The youngster, Mason Mount, looks like a real gem and I can't wait to see him graduate further.

Do you remember when there were no crossbars?!

Didn't really stop you getting knocked out when you headed it or getting permanent lace scars on your forehead.

And yes, Rob, I do still have hair.

If I'm not mistaken, the Wembley International was a bit lighter than the Wembley Trophy; possibly more prone to the 'egg' problem.

Caseys were certainly a rarity in my youth. Nobody actually owned one and we only ever used them for school matches. For games period, which was mainly a game of footy, we used a ball made of similar material to a basketball.

Believe me, if you got one of those smacked into your inner thigh on a cold, wet winter's day, you knew about it. If you were playing in goal, your hands would sting if you stopped one. Even if it was wet, you only had a thin pair of woollen gloves to help dull the pain, not like the wicketkeeper gloves they wear today!

We used that ball until in our early 20s when we still had a Sunday kick around in Stanley Park, near the bowling greens and nearer Goodison than Anfield. That advance of caseys not having laces must compare with the atom bomb, Concorde and the MRI scanner in the annals of advances in technology.

Had it for years until it finally went flat, and I remember feeling absolutely devastated, when someone burst it when I wasn't even there, but it gave us all hours of fun, and is still my favourite ever ball to this day!

The marks that thing left were brutal. I played in goal and hated that thing. Unless you got your timing spot on, the ball went ‘heavy' and the recoil was agony on the wrists.

Kids who weren't my mates would knock on our door in Norris Green and ask if they could 'lend' the Jonny 7. I made the mistake of lending it, and the tripod got broke. Never again!

Not quite on the same pain threshold as your tripod, I took Paul McCartney's “Ram” into school to lend to a mate, he left it on the radiator where it warped. Some said it was a fortunate outcome but I was gutted.

I was in a pub in Stonehaven a couple of years ago, and got talking to a Swedish couple. When I told them I was from Liverpool, the lass got excited, said "I love Liverpool, fantastic city, and the Beatles are great, who is your favourite Beatle?"

I said "George Harrison," and she was surprised, saying she thought it would be Paul McCartney. I said, "My second favourite Beatle is John Lennon, then Ringo Starr, then Paul McCartney."

She was very surprised that McCartney came behind Ringo Starr, and asked me why?

I said "Ringo Starr was very good in Thomas the Tank Engine."

Peter, a mate of mine bought The Who Live at Leeds, and put it on top of the telly, which was quite warm!

And then, to really make me fall off my chair, the lad I'd seen play as a centre-back only 18 months before, is picked for the first team by Moyes as a winger, and then starts doing double step-overs and putting crosses in.

And that's the problem. Ross could do it all. He's got every physical attribute going. Okay, sure, he's not lightning fast, but he's quick. He's big and he's strong. Before his double leg break, he was a fearless tough tackler. He only seemed to lack a bit of nous upstairs.

Personally, I thought the best football he played for us came at the end, that last season under Koeman, before the injury, when he was playing up front to the right of Lukaku and playing sublime crosses with his right, and shooting with his left. He was out of the way for the defensive mistakes that had marred his game and effecting things on the break and scoring and creating.

Ahem, anyway I digress, my point was what do we think of Dzeko as a January signing on a 2-year deal?

Yes, I realise he's 32, but his game has never been based on raw pace (like Michael Owen) or relentless lung-busting effort (like Rooney) and always been about being in the right place in the box. He's proven class who's chipped in with 182 league goals and 73 assists from 395 league games (not all starts either) at the highest level (Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A).

He wouldn't need to start every match but could offer us something genuinely different from the bench and, with the pace of our wingers and creative players, he'd be getting service. I feel right now, with Tosun and Niasse, we have a lot of effort and endeavour but a lack of genuine sharpness in front of goal, which is what I think someone like this could provide, if only for a season and a half to buy us some time to unearth a new prospect elsewhere.

Of course I'd love a younger version, a new Lukaku or the next Aguero, but so would half the Premier League, whereas it appears here (based on speculation anyway) we'd be competing against the likes of Southampton and Cardiff – not Man Utd and Liverpool.

What's more, it does sound like he fancies one last crack at the Premier League.

On a less judgmental level, I really appreciate the wit, sarcasm and bonhomie on the history of the casey. Apart from once trapping my dick in my zipper fly, I've never ever experienced pain in "the groin" comparable to taking one in the tezzies from a sweetly struck casey, and that didn't include the laces fortunately.

I also think Brands does not want to be bringing in players of the ‘one last crack' variety. Perhaps if we got a good offer for Tosun but otherwise I'd be surprised to see the veteran Bosnian arrive.

And guess what: ToffeeWebers do the same. Hate to say it but RS supporters back their players, we rip ours apart.

What a cock!!!

Memory playing tricks, although I do know that the casey was ٣!

As a previous poster has indicated, opinions way below the radar of the likes of Guardiola and Sarri. And thankfully, I suspect, Silva.

Three teams in my life: Everton, Southport, & Monchengladbach. Oh and a soft spot for Arsenal after Bally went there and when they won the league at Anfield, beating the RS in the 80s.

I don't think it's “ageing myopics” responsible for the slagging off of our younger players. It's the older contributors like Dave Abrahams and others who seem to have more patience than some posters.

There was much banter about new and old footballs. Trying to lace an old football on an icy cold day on December 26 in the fifties was basically self abuse resulting in broken fingers and unlimited frustration.

Then, as a proud 10-year-old you took your brand new 15-lb football out to the nearest piece of grass. Eventually you found three of four so-called friends who agreed to play with you on cold soggy turf. Usually nobody was able to even get the ball off the ground. You were then told by those friends that your brand new ball was shite and probably the "WERST", yes "WERST" present you could ever have got. By that time you hated your Aunty Hilda who should have bought you "Snakes and Ladders" instead of a chocolate brown football that nobody wanted to play with.

I actually had one of those footballs. It took about 15 more years before I could even get it off the ground.

Thanks for the agreement. Unfortunately, your Age theory doesn't stack up. I'm 62.

The casey was definitely dear, which is why we clubbed together to get it. But it was worth it, just great to play with.

I'm still waiting for Allardyce to take up the Luxembourg position, so the 3 Benelux teams are covered by our former coaches.

Pickford is defo a work in progress but we are lucky to have him. Never a dull moment and he plays with his heart on his sleeve, not some automaton. Another member of our team who plays for his country. It all adds up.

I had a paper round in Litherland from the age of 10. A 15-year-old friend let me do half his round and gave me pennies for the honor. But, as I got into my early teens, that paper round paid for my trips to Goodison, money well spent in the 60s. My first job paid ١ 10s. and I had enough money to pay my mum and go the game. And buy footballs with my mates. We liked the brownish plastic ball that was a bit heavier, can't remember the name. Played on the bomb sites.

Back to the present and my American wife bought me an Everton football for my birthday. You know, a real one. When she tried to head it, well that was the end of that fun and games. As already said, you can't get a lighter plastic ball to have fun with in the USA. One that is not too light like a beach-ball but not too heavy like the standard.

I know life in the UK isn't all fun and games right now but, over here in the US, I think it's even worse, so to be able to spend a little time (or maybe too much time) with my beloved Everton is a real joy, especially now we have a team growing in promise. COYB.

It could've been the Trophy ball. There was nothing like putting a couple of jumpers down and kicking a ball around with friends. If you were really lucky, there would be an empty footie pitch with goalposts. 3 and in, or sides if you had enough players.

One of my mates used to bring his sister to make up the numbers. She was always picked first cause she was murder in the tackle. Ahh the 60s in Liverpool with both teams on the high.

Has any other club sacked three consecutive managers who have led national teams or feasibly, are still being paid and therefore still employed at the same time? It's a tangled web...

The brown ball was a bit heavier and the name will come to me... eventually.

Remember when a handball was not spotted and they'd shout, "Ref — he's got the lace!"

As for this knocking our Jord for his 'theatrics' for example diving when 'the ball is heading safely out of play'??? You just always know when its going wide??? Nope, not having it. Clearly to say such crap you know nowt about being the best goalkeeper you can be.. and its not quite the same in situ, 'barrel-end' of a shot, compared with your armchair judging via your widescreen TV is it???

I know at least a little, having aspired to be a goalie for a long time as a kid.. and what I remember is you should ALWAYS dive for the ball any shot thats away from you.. at least then you have a chance to save it, regardless of whether or not its not floating as 'harmlessly wide' as it may have seemed, first assessment!!!

Its certainly NOT about theatrics when it comes to a top class keeper.. remember our Nev??? Yes, this young un needs to settle a bit more at times, hence his dallying which nearly gave them a pen but he'll know this better then anyone. And its definately not his shot-stopping, even diving for it when YOU don't think he should, that we should be trying to find issue with!!

To put it in perspective, how many goalies do we see just stand there, assuming [often wrongly] either its going wide, or that they won't get to it anyway??? Even if the shot looks a worldie, you're far, far, better to fling yourself like Billy the fucking Fish at it than to say 'Fuck that, its in already as far as I'm concerned!!!' Cover the shot.. remember that???