Anthony Patterson tipped to follow Jordan Pickford into Premier League by Sunderland legend - exclusive
The former Sunderland goalkeeper thinks Anthony Patterson can play in the Premier League one day
Former Sunderland goalkeeper Chris Turner has tipped Anthony Patterson to make it to the Premier League.
Turner, now 66, started his career at Sheffield Wednesday before joining Sunderland in 1978, where he would stay for six seasons, making over 200 appearances in all competitions between the sticks for the Wearsiders during his stint.
Academy of Light graduate Patterson is in the midst of his fourth season as a senior player for Sunderland and has already appeared on 132 occasions across league and cup competitions for the Black Cats. Like Turner, Patterson also achieved promotion with the club in his very first season.
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“I think he's doing extremely well,” Turner responded when asked about Patterson’s progress at Sunderland. “I've watched him over a number of seasons. I've always taken an interest in Sunderland, and obviously whoever they’ve got in goal over the years.
“They've had some fantastic goalkeepers. I think this boy's going to be another one. Jordan Pickford went on to Everton. I think this boy could move, hopefully, with Sunderland into the Premier League, but the way he's progressing, I think he's got a great chance himself in following the footsteps of Jordan.”
Patterson has been linked with the likes of Arsenal, Celtic and Liverpool in recent transfer windows as his development on Wearside continues. In 1985, Turner himself made the switch from Sunderland to Manchester United - a path the former shot-stopper believes Patterson is capable of following.
“Most definitely,” Turned, who played 589 times in all competitions, including 490 league games during his 21-year career, said when asked if Patterson was good enough to play for a big club in the Premier League.
“Unfortunately, we haven't got a great selection of English goalkeepers in the country, so there's not too many to pick out. If you ask me now, give me six. I don't think I could name the six. I think Patterson's got every chance of being able to progress to a big club as an English keeper.”
Though Patterson has undoubtedly improved from his early days in Sunderland’s first-team playing in League One, one aspect of his game that has come in for some criticism has been his ball-playing ability, a facet of the modern game which has come under increased scrutiny in recent years.
“It's a strange one,” Turned added when asked about Patterson’s skill with the ball at his feet. “A goalkeeper now has changed from when I played, and now people are judging goalkeepers differently. If you can't stop shots, what are you doing being a goalkeeper? Now they're talking about playing sweeper. We've always had sweeping goalkeepers.
“The likes of Bruce Grobbelaar at Liverpool, who were a top club in the country in the 80s. Bruce used to play outside his penalty box way back then, so it's nothing new. The only difference is now is the back-pass law changed 20-odd years ago, and goalkeepers now are expected to play outside the box, are expected to have a good first touch.
“It's something that all goalkeepers do if you want to go to the very top because that's what the coaches look for, the footwork is important. The game has changed now. You don't see goalkeepers having to come out and take 10, 12, or 15 crosses a game because teams seem to keep playing more on the ground.
“Rather than cross, they turn out and pass it back or play it back into midfield. It's a different game. Goalkeeping is a different game. That is an area of improvement that all goalkeepers have got to be very, very good at if you want to progress into a top-six club now in the country.”