Jordan Pickford: Why Everton goalkeeper is England’s undisputed number one

With no obvious weakness in keeping the ball out of goal, Pickford’s temperament has often been seen as his biggest problem.

Rooney once felt he was “too agitated”, especially compared to Edwin van der Sar, who played for Manchester United for a long time and was always cool and calm.

However, Walcott thinks that Pickford changed with age, reducing the histrionicity that used to be characteristic of him.

“Jordan has calmed down quite a bit; I just think he’s matured a bit more,” Walcott told BBC Sport.

“There were times when I played with him early in his career, when he got bored of the game and thought he had to do something just to feel involved.

“But I think he doesn’t mind stepping back now because he understands that it starts with the goalkeeper and if he is calm it will help the back four and the rest of the team to be calm too.

“He doesn’t get into any fights anymore and that depends on maturity.”

You could never describe Pickford as complacent, though, and Green feels emotions are still a big part of his make-up.

“Jordan is literally speaking out on his own at times, but he has reached a point where he has proven that every aspect of his game works for him – so who are we to question that now?” Green added.

“He’s been so good for so long that maybe anyone sitting in the studio or in the stands saying ‘oh no, Jordan’s screaming again’ should shut up or say ‘maybe he knows what he’s doing’ instead.”