Fans took to social media to slam goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who had a game to forget as England lost 2-1 to Greece on Thursday. The shotstopper was one of the worst players on the pitch in the Three Lions' Nations League group-stage match at Wembley Stadium. While he conceded just twice, the score could have been much worse.
Just 10 minutes into the game, Pickford was caught in possession as England tried to play out from the back. He was well outside his box and spent too much time on the ball before losing it to Vangelis Pavlidis. Despite Anastasios Bakasetas' accurate effort from distance, Pickford's blushes were saved by Levi Colwill's goal line clearance.
Only a minute later, the ball went into the back of Pickford's net after he fumbled a punch from a corner. However, the goal was ruled out for a foul, and a free-kick was given, giving the 30-year-old goalkeeper another chance to keep things at 0-0.
In the 49th minute, though, Greece took the lead through Pavlidis, whose low effort went below Pickford's hands and into the bottom-right corner.
In the 59th minute, Greece made it 2-0, but the offside flag stopped celebrations short. With 84 minutes on the clock, the visitors made it 2-0 again, but once more, it was cancelled for offside.
Finally, England scored in the 87th minute through Jude Bellingham. However, the jubilant scenes eventually went to Greece, as the Three Lions failed to play out of the defense, and Pavlidis blasted home from close range. It was all-round poor defending from the hosts, but fans on social media particularly questioned Jordan Pickford's performance.
"Pickford is the weapon fashioned against England," a fan complained.
"Pickford should be dropped forever," another demanded.
"After the way he played I thought he’d been dropped on his head!" a third added.
"Pickford is one of those players who thinks he’s better than he really is. Bang average goalkeeper." a fourth was displeased.
"Pickford it’s time to hang the boots up," another added.
England boss Lee Carsley explains reason for shocking starting XI decision
England interim boss Lee Carsley has explained the reason he opted to start a large number of attacking players, with only Declan Rice in holding midfield. Notably, attackers like Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, and Anthony Gordon all started the game, despite none of them being strikers.
He explained the reason for this in an interview with ITV, ahead of the game (via GOAL):
"It's given us the chance to try something, to be creative with the system and with, hopefully, the way that we play... what we have got with the players on the pitch is a lot of flexibility. You may see a lot of changes tonight."
This flexibility did not help England find the net often, with Bellingham's goal being the only shining moment for the team in their poor performance against Greece.