Roy Keane in scathing attack on England star after Greece loss: ‘He’s not going to change’

Roy Keane was far from impressed

In the Nations League on Thursday night, Greece defeated the Three Lions 2-1 at Wembley, putting Jordan Pickford under the spotlight once more for England.

During England’s 2-1 loss to Greece at Wembley, Roy Keane wasn’t shy in his criticism of Jordan Pickford.

Before Vangelis Pavlidis’ second goal of the game sealed a stunning victory for the Three Lions in their Nations League match, it appeared as though a late goal by Jude Bellingham would salvage a barely-deserved point for the team.

England started the match shakily, with two offsides saving their blushes before the half. Pickford was at his most inconsistent during the opening period, although he was helped by Levi Colwill’s amazing goalline clearance and an offside call against Konstantinos Mavropanos.

During the intermission, Manchester United legend Keane criticized the 30-year-old England No. 1 on ITV.

The moment when Pickford gave up the ball far from his line drew harsh criticism from him, saying, “It sends a message about concentration levels, and that spreads throughout the team.” Once more, there’s not much of a rush.”

“What the heck is he doing?!” he cried. Work fast on it. Excellent defense, extremely unfortunate for Greece, but a beautiful lesson for defenders: never give up. He pursued it and performed admirably. However, that was a poor message for Pickford to convey.”

Ian Wright, a pundit on ITV as well, commented on Pickford’s inconsistent performance, stating: “He looks everywhere again.” He finds himself in a forbidden area. Pickford, it’s extremely jittery,” he continued.

The former captain of Manchester United, Keane, continued, saying, “Pickford will always have that.” He won’t alter right now.”

Jordan Pickford didn’t have his finest match for England against Greece ( Image: Getty Images)

Pickford has a well-documented history of receiving criticism from Keane; the Irish commentator previously attacked the goalkeeper during Everton’s 3-0 Premier League loss to Manchester City in May of last year. Among his cutting remarks on Sky Sports was this: “My gosh, Pickford for the goal. He seemed quite tiny in there. He’s not expecting spring; it doesn’t exist. Prior to the match, Micah Richards claimed to be a superior goalie. He isn’t.

And in March 2020, after Manchester United and Everton drew 1-1 at Goodison Park, Keane was not satisfied with Pickford’s handling of a Bruno Fernandes shot. “When I hear that, when people say the ball is moving, of course the ball is going to move when someone kicks it.”

Keane did not spare his criticism, saying, “I’m not kidding about the bottom line with Pickford.” I don’t need to look at your statistics because I already know that Pickford is a poor goalie. He is not capable, as we stated before the game.” He’s not a good goalie, and even if we talked before the game about Everton’s improvement as a football team, I don’t care.”