Search icon

Football

08th Mar 2018

Sam Allardyce addresses rumours of bad blood between Pickford and Gueye

Gueye was furious with his goalkeeper at the weekend

Darragh Murphy

Jamie Carragher was convinced he’d uncovered some animosity at Turf Moor last weekend.

Everton took the lead against Burnley but fell foul of a second-half comeback from Sean Dyche’s side and the Toffees’ goalkeeper Jordan Pickford came in for some criticism for his role in the hosts’ first goal.

With the use of new technology on Monday Night Football, Pickford was blamed for Burnley’s equaliser and, in his analysis of Ashley Barnes’ goal, Carragher pointed out how Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye responded to the fact that his ‘keeper didn’t come out earlier to close Barnes down.

Gueye sprinted towards his own goal to get in Pickford’s face and Carragher refused to believe that the exchange was a one-off.

“He should have come out quicker,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.

“But for him to run 20 or 30 yards to remonstrate with a goalkeeper, that’s not a one-off. There must be something going on behind the scenes between the two of them – something in the dressing room.

“If someone ran 20 yards to have a go at me I’d have them by the throat. Jordan Pickford just lets it happen.”

The subject was brought up on Thursday, when manager Sam Allardyce spoke to the media ahead of his side’s clash with Brighton at the weekend.

Allardyce assured reporters that there was no problem between his midfielder and goalkeeper, suggesting that the incident had been blown out of proportion.

“It’s not nice when it’s on the field of play,” Allardyce said.

“But everybody today, in our politically correct world, think that then there is a real problem and escalate that into a problem.

“That isn’t a problem, that is someone airing their frustration in the right way, as long as it doesn’t go beyond that as a short, sharp burst.”

WATCH: Liverpool BOTTLED the title race 🤬 | Who will win the Premier League?