Given Pickford’s inconsistency, Everton signing this 30-year-old star is a welcome move

Why Everton signing Robin Olsen is a sensible move

According to Sky Sports, Everton have announced the signing of Swedish international goalkeeper Robin Olsen on a season-long loan deal from Serie A outfit AS Roma.

The 30-year-old has become the sixth senior signing of the summer for the Toffees, following the likes of Allan, James Rodriguez, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Niels Nkounkou, and Ben Godfrey.

Profile

Robin Olsen started his professional career in Sweden and featured for a number of clubs, most prominently Malmo FF, whom he helped qualify for the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. That was followed by a brief stint in Greece with PAOK before Olsen joined Danish giants Copenhagen on the back of a successful loan spell.

The 30-year-old made 100 appearances for Copenhagen in all competitions and won back-to-back domestic league and cup doubles, registering an impressive tally of 45 clean sheets in the process. Olsen caught the eye for Sweden at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where he featured in all five games as his nation went all the way through to the semi-finals before being eliminated by Sweden.

Olsen was snapped up by Roma in the summer of 2018 but the towering Swede endured a difficult debut season at the Italian capital, conceding as many as 58 goals in 35 games. The towering shot-stopper was loaned out to fellow Serie A outfit Cagliari last summer where he made 19 appearances in all competitions.

Olsen would provide Pickford with quality competition

Jordan Pickford has been Everton’s undisputed No.1 between the sticks over the past three seasons while also establishing himself firmly as a regular starter in goal for England at the international level.

While the 26-year-old’s ability to make top-quality saves certainly can’t be called into question, Pickford’s error-prone nature as a goalkeeper remains a nagging issue for the Toffees’ faithful. The England international has come under scrutiny for some high-profile errors over the years, most recently in Everton’s 4-2 win over Brighton in the PL where his handling error allowed Neal Maupay to equalise.

Pickford has also let Everton down in some big games, most notably in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool back in December 2018 when his last-minute error paved the way for Divock Origi’s winner. Going by the numbers, Pickford has made a total of 9 errors that have led to goals in the Premier League since the start of the 2017-18 season. 

Veteran Maarten Stekelenburg was too old to push Pickford for the No.1 role at Goodison Park while Jonas Lossl hardly has the quality to do so. Robin Olsen, to that end, certainly ticks the box as an experienced keeper with more than enough quality to provide the England international with some quality competition in goal.

Those claims are well backed up by the numbers. Olsen registered a better save percentage (74) in the Serie A last season as compared to Pickford’s ratio of 63, while not committing a single error that led to a goal. The Everton star, on the contrary, was culpable of four errors leading to goals in the PL last term.

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Verdict

Robin Olsen has loads of top-flight experience in Sweden, Greece, Denmark and Italy while also accumulating as many as 37 international caps for Sweden. That coupled with his towering 6ft 5in frame, should help him adapt to the demands of the English game. 

All in all, the vastly-experienced Swedish international looks more than capable of keeping Pickford on his toes.