Micah Richards urges ‘nervous wreck’ England star to ‘calm down’ in possession in the Three Lions’ shock 2-1 defeat by Greece at Wembley

Jordan Pickford’s nervous energy set the tone for England’s poor performance in a 2-1 defeat by Greece, claims former Three Lions defender Micah Richards. 

Greece were good value for their win on Thursday night and had the ball in England’s net on five occasions, though three of their goals were ruled out.

Vangelis Pavlidis scored both goals – including a 94th minute winner – to dampen the intrigue infused by a creative and attacking set-up laid on by Lee Carsley.

A particular concern was the display of Everton stopper Jordan Pickford, who was far from the levels normally displayed when turning out for the Three Lions. And Richards believes this had an impact on the whole team. 

‘Pickford was like a nervous wreck.’ He said on The Rest is Football podcast. ‘It set the tone for everything. I was like “come on Pickford, I’m your biggest fan but calm down please”.’

The Everton stopper has come in for criticism for his performances at the start of the season

Micah Richards claimed that Pickford looked like a ‘nervous wreck’ on Thursday night

The 30-year-old has come in for criticism at the start of this season, which began with four straight defeats for his club in the Premier League. 

Those fixtures saw Pickford concede 13 goals and led to reports that Sean Dyche was ready to axe his No1 . It was claimed that Dyche was eyeing up a move for Newcastle’s Nick Pope in January should Pickford’s performances not improve.

Of late, both Pickford’s and the Toffee’s form has improved, with the stopper saving a penalty to preserve a clean sheet and earn Everton a point against Newcastle last week. 

But at Wembley, the season’s early jitters were again on display. Pickford was also singled out by Roy Keane, who said his carelessness on the ball was a concern. 

‘That spreads a message throughout the team – the lack of concentration levels, the lack of urgency,’ said Keane of Pickford’s first-half performance on ITV.

‘What’s he doing? Do it quickly – not a good message from Pickford to send,’ he said, after Pickford lost possession far from home and needed Levi Colwill to bail him out.

Roy Keane also singled out the goalkeeper for a lack of concentration’ that spread throughout the team

Vangelis Pavlidis scored a brace – including a 94th minute winner – to secure a famous win for the visitors

In the second half, a negligent throw from Pickford delivered the ball straight into Greece’s hands and it was fortunate they did not score.

In Mail Sport’s player ratings from the English capital, the England goalkeeper – typically so reliable for his country – scored 3.5.

Keane then went on to pull apart England’s defence for a supposed lack of desire. Pavlidis was able to keep the ball from several players in England’s area without a robust challenge before his first goal in the 49th minute.

Though disappointed by the result, Gary Lineker struck a different tone and said he was pleased to see Carsley adopt a ‘bold and imaginative’ strategy. His only hope is that it works next time. 

‘I felt for [the defence] a little bit at the back because they were open to the counter attack but I don’t actually mind that.’ Lineker added on the Rest is Football podcast. ‘It’s like watching Tottenham, I enjoy watching Tottenham because that’s the kind of football I like. 

Gary Lineker said he was pleased to see Lee Carsley adopt a bold strategy but admitted his plan backfired

‘I like entertaining football. I don’t want to watch turgid football with the ball being passed around in the final third of your own team. I want to see attacking football so I’m not going to go in too deeply at the moment. 

‘I thought it was bold, imaginative but it backfired on [Carsley] tonight but I hope in the future it doesn’t.’