My point still stands, it was reckless and stupid. But it was still Pickford trying to make himself big as a goalkeeper. As a goal keeper myself I can understand what he’s trying to do. Yes you can still get red carded and banned for reckless tackles which had no intent. This should have been a red and 3 match ban. To suggest it needs a lengthy ban is ridiculous. To suggest the keeper meant it with intent is just really bizarre.
You do? Then you are wiser than me here. Sliding onwards with your feet first is not a shot blocking technique or "making yourself bigger". It is a clearance technique that actually sacrifices covered space (the GK can cover far more by staying upwards for example) in the hopes to get a feet on the ball before the shot is even fired.
If the intention is to block the shot Pickford had several options here:
1. Stay on foot, move towards the player but don´t engage directly, restrict the angle towards the goal, close down the short end and pray the attacking player does not hit the ball well enough to target the small spaces you have to keep open. If he manages to get past you, kudos to him, but you did everything that you could to make it as hard as possible to concede without taking major risks.
2. The so called "Schranken-Technik" (bar technique in English?). You do engage directly and slide into the player sideways, using the whole length of your body as obstacle. This might give the opportunity to get a body part on the ball and covers the whole width of the goal unless the angle is really unfavourable for you. It comes with the disadvantage that mistiming the dive can rather easily results in a foul and a pen and it gives the attacker the opportunity to lift the ball above you (which does take considerable skill from the attacker, though).
3. The "Adler-Sprung" or Eagle Dive. You dive frontally into the player, but instead of the butcher like movement Pickford did you go body first and spread your ligaments away from you like wings or a net (some also call it the Spider because of that). You cover the largest space with this and pressure the opposing player at the same time. It does take a considerable amount of skill to pull this off as the timing of the dive has to be very precise and requires a high flexibility from the GK to be effective. If you can pull it off consistently this should be your go to move. The one Keeper who uses this the most extensively and highly successfully is Manuel Neuer, which makes him terrifying to play against in a 1v1.
In summary, I don´t believe that Pickford tried to block a shot here but rather clear the ball with his feet. He could have very well terribly messed up both the timing and the intensity of the dive which made him far too high and far too late here. A stupid, dangerous and clumsy tackle.
My problem with this kind of argumentation is that I have now seen half a dozen separate instances where Pickford jumped into a player that way. At that point the clumsiness argument goes right out of the window for me and it becomes delibarate in my book.
For the record, I don´t believe that Pickfords intention with this kind of tackle is to injure the other player. I think he uses this as a tool of intimidation to make the attacker back off. The natural instinct of a football player if he is aware of someone fying into him in that way is a singular one: to get his boots of the ground to protect himself. The knee is in most cases probably the most vulnerable part of a football player. if it is under tension, it is one of the most inflexible joints, making it highly vulnerable to unnatural stress or bending in a different direction than it is supposed to bend. For a knee to seriously injure, it takes far less impact force than a 90kg body ramming its entire weight into it like a lokomotive.
Virgil van Dijks injury was not some kind of freak accident, unfortunate or bad luck: it was a logical consequence. It would have been a miracle if he would not have been severely injured here.
If Pickfords intent for these kind of tackles is the one I think it is, the only word I would have for this kind of technique would be disgraceful, which would in turn make Pickford into a disgrace for anyone who seriously plays or played his position.