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Asmir Begovic has defended teammate Jordan Pickford after he came in for some harsh criticism from Graeme Souness. The Liverpool legend and talk SPORT pundit delivered a damning verdict on England and Everton's first-choice goalkeeper at the start of the year. Back in January, Souness labelled Pickford a 'bomb scare', and criticised his hotheadedness on the pitch. Speaking to Jim White and Simon Jordan, the 71-year-old said of the shot stopper: “I think he's a bomb scare. I think he’s an accident waiting to happen. “I look at him and [I don't know] why he gets annoyed and rushes off his line after making a save, and waving his finger and pointing a finger at his teammates. "That's what goalkeepers are paid for son. " Outlining what he feels makes a good goalkeeper, Souness continued: “A goalkeeper should be like a referee - making the job look simple. “And that is the sign of our top goalkeeper, when he goes more or less through a game unnoticed. " He later added: “I like a goalkeeper to be calm and go through the whole process of, ‘have a great game, but don't make it all about you’. And I just feel with Pickford it doesn’t look like that. ” But Pickford's Everton teammate and fellow goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has since defended him against Souness' strong words. Appearing on White and Jordan with Danny Murphy, the 37-year-old stopper was asked for his thoughts on the talk SPORT pundit's comments, after having them played back to him in the studio. White asked Begovic: "Now I know he's your teammate, but does Souness have a point? ” Remaining respectful, the Bosnian gave a firm response, saying: “Oh no. "God bless Graeme. I think what he says there is quite difficult to take in really. " Begovic, who has made over 250 Premier League appearances, later offered a resounding endorsement of his colleague, who he has worked with for three years, having first joined the Toffees in 2021. He said: “I've seen him now for three years and work with him on a daily basis and seen his quality, and I can genuinely say he's world-class. “I've seen it with my own two eyes and work with him and we've pushed each other, gained respect and of course, we're friends now. “So I think he's developed over the years. He's getting to an age now where he's coming into really his best stage of his career having done what he's done. ” With much of Pickford's criticism in recent years focusing on his at times overly emotional playing style, Begovic outlined how the Three Lions man has improved in this respect in recent years. He explained: "Of course, I think that one of the biggest things for goalkeepers is emotional control. “How do you cope with things, and that pressure on you to not make a mistake and to be there for your team whenever called upon? “I think some of his words were a little bit over the top, a little bit too extreme, of course [in the past]. But I think that's where he's matured really well. " Despite enduring some rocky spells at club level, Pickford has been an ever-reliable presence between the sticks for England. Since making his international debut in 2017, the 30-year-old has cemented himself as the Three Lions' no. 1 choice in goal. His penalty save against Colombia helped his country to win a first ever World Cup shootout on their way to competition semi-finals in 2018. He has gone on to start in final defeats at both Euro 2020 and Euro 2024, becoming England's most-capped goalkeeper at major tournaments in the process with 26 to his name. This service is provided on talk SPORT Ltd's Terms of Use in accordance with our Privacy Policy.