In a touching pre-match scene at Goodison Park, Everton’s Jordan Pickford took a moment to reconnect with his former manager David Moyes before the clash with West Ham.
This heartfelt reunion was captured moments before Everton’s disappointing 3-1 defeat on Saturday, as reported by the Liverpool Echo the following day. The Everton goalkeeper, who worked under Moyes during his time at Sunderland before moving to Everton in June 2017, made a deliberate detour from his team’s warm-up session to share a conversation with Moyes.
The duo was seen exchanging words and laughs, a testament to their enduring rapport from their days at Sunderland, where Moyes played a pivotal role in Pickford’s early career development.
Their past connection was evident as they caught up, even though Pickford’s stint with Moyes at Sunderland was brief. Since then, Pickford has ascended to become the first-choice goalkeeper for both England and Everton.
The content of their exchange remains private, stirring curiosity. It could even hark back to a light-hearted dispute over Pickford’s dietary choices, a topic Moyes once humorously broached, according to Football365.
However, the reunion turned bittersweet for Pickford, as Everton conceded three goals after taking the lead, marking a continuation of a challenging period for the goalkeeper with no clean sheets in his last five appearances and nine goals conceded.
For Moyes and West Ham, however, the victory was a sigh of relief, dampening speculation about Moyes’ managerial position with the club achieving back-to-back wins.