Jordan Pickford believes that Everton played one of their best games of the season against Tottenham Hotspur. Despite losing 2-1, which was their first defeat outside of Liverpool since the beginning of the season, they “went after” Ange Postecoglou’s team.In the first 18 minutes of the game, the Toffees were down 2-0, but they staged a comeback in the second half. Although they had a goal from Dominic Calvert-Lewin disallowed following a VAR check, they managed to reduce the deficit eight minutes before the end of the game through a goal from Andre Gomes, who came off the bench. Another substitute, Arnaut Danjuma, could have secured a draw for his side, but his equalizer was denied by a fingertip save from Guglielmo Vicario.”I think we created a lot of chances, it was one of the best games that we’ve played all season, it was entertaining, but you can play rubbish and win, it’s about getting points on the board. The character and effort were there as a team, and we never gave up; that’s the main thing.##NAJAVA_MECA_7762708##Sean Dyche’s side managed to climb out of the relegation zone despite the crippling ten-point deduction – and Pickford reckons the team’s spirit is apparent in the way they create chances and never give up despite going behind.”We had a lot of opportunities, the keeper made some good saves and we took the game on against a very good side. There are different ways we can play. We played a lot of football here and had a lot of opportunities but didn’t manage to take them. It’s a bit frustrating but we’ve got to take a lot of positives from it and keep building. We’ve got a tough game against Manchester City coming on Wednesday but we’ve got to keep fighting.”Pickford was pleased with Everton’s mental strength in coming back from behind.”I think we’ve turned a corner. We just went after them. They’re a very good side; they’re on 36 points and in the top four. We went after them, and on another day, those chances might go in, but they didn’t this time. We can’t be too disappointed; we can take a lot of positives from it. It just ended up being that type of game. There was a lot of hard work put in, and our defenders did a lot of running up and down, and that takes a lot of effort, and we never quit, kept pushing, and that is a sign of a good team and team togetherness.”Jordan Pickford takes on our A-Z challenge where he’s got 1 minute to get through the alphabet using only player’s surnames… 👀It’s fair to say he wasn’t too pleased with his performance 🤣 pic.twitter.com/iBQBr7w9xD— SPORTbible (@sportbible) December 21, 2023 Pickford believes that the impressive performance of Gomes, who came on as a first-half substitute for Idrissa Gueye in his first appearance of the season, demonstrated the collective spirit that now exists within the team. The 30-year-old Portuguese midfielder spent last season on loan at French club Lille and hadn’t played competitively for Everton for over 19 months since he was substituted by Frank Lampard when they trailed 2-0 at half-time of the home game against Crystal Palace on 19 May last year.”Andre has had a few injuries, but he’s got himself fit, and in training, he’s been terrific. He’s come on and shown the ability he’s got. It’s good for him to achieve the goal of building his confidence. It shows the togetherness in the group, though, as Andre has been out of the picture and hasn’t played a game since pre-season, but he comes on and makes a big impact. Everybody who comes on, they’re not dwelling on their situation; they’re trying to take their opportunity, and we’ve got that squad togetherness that will keep pushing us further.”
