Everton Boss Allardyce Hits Out at 'Disappointing' Blues After Bournemouth Loss

Sam Allardyce has hit out at his Everton stars for the manner in which they let 'top lad' Jordan Pickford down in their 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday.

Pickford was called upon to make a string of fine saves to deny the Cherries at various points on the south coast, but was powerless to prevent Ryan Fraser from bagging two goals as the Toffees fell to defeat for the first time under Allardyce.

In quotes published by the Liverpool Echo, Allardyce admitted that Pickford deserved better from the contest due to the manner of his display at the Vitality Stadium.

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He lamented: “Jordan was fantastic. He is a top drawer goalkeeper and a top lad. I had him at Sunderland and brought him back from loan at Preston, he played a few games and showed his talent.

“I knew he was going to be a top goalie but I didn’t know it was going to be this quick. It’s outstanding it’s this quick.

“He is very, very disappointed and I think the players should be disappointed that they’ve let him down today because he certainly should have got a point out of that with some of the saves he made.”

In a further attack on his players after their eight-match run without defeat came to an end, the 63-year-old explained how maddening it was to gift the hosts both goals in their triumph over his side.

Allardyce added: “It’s a frustrating way for the unbeaten run to end because we should have avoided both goals. The bottom line is you can’t go away from home and gift two goals like we did today.

“When we put ourselves in a good position having been 1-0 down and had possession in our half, to just give it away and the opposition then going down the other end without anyone getting in the way and getting a shot off, they got a bit of luck but we shouldn’t have let it get to that position in the first place."