Jordan Pickford faces England fight as Southgate ponders goalkeeper change
[ad_1]
Jordan Pickford is facing a serious threat to his status as England No.1.
Gareth Southgate is likely to give Burnley’s Nick Pope a chance in one of England’s two Nations League games with Denmark and Iceland.
It is the first time that Everton keeper Pickford has faced major doubts since becoming England’s undisputed first choice ‘keeper ahead of the 2018 World Cup.
Pickford, 26, was questioned by his own club manager last season after Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti warned that his form has not been good enough.
That came at a time when Pope had been in superb form for Burnley and he has been applying pressure on Pickford in the England set-up.
(Image: Pool via REUTERS)
Dean Henderson is also highly regarded by Southgate as the Manchester United keeper progressed through the ranks and was outstanding while on loan at Sheffield United last season.
Henderson, 23, is regarded as potentially being the long term No.1.
It has left Pickford fearing he could lose his place after a series of high profile gaffes last season even though Southgate has been quick to stress that he has never let England down.
Ancelotti said last month: “He’s not doing well. For the quality that he has, and he agreed, he has to be better.
“I’m not so worried because he has quality, he has character, but I have to say to him, and I did say to him, that he has to improve.”
(Image: Eddie Keogh for The FA/REX/Shutterstock)
Southgate is now open to giving Pope a chance as he believes it is more of a level playing field now.
The Burnley stopper might have had an opening before now but for doubts about his distribution.
Three Lions boss Southgate hinted when he named his squad last week that the keepers are now on a level playing field and the shirt is up for grabs which is a big departure from when he backed Pickford as his No.1 to the hilt in March.
Sign up for the brilliant new Mirror Football newsletter!
From the latest transfer news to the agenda-setting stories, get it all in your email inbox.
Put your email at the top of this article or follow the instructions on this link.
Southgate admitted: “It is fair to say Jordan has had a challenging period with his club but all the goalkeepers on the list have had goals that they would have hoped to have done better with.
“In every position on the field we’ve got to have that competition.
“It’s 10 months since we played. There have been fluctuations in form during that time.”
Sign up to the Mirror Football email here for the latest news and transfer gossip
[ad_2]
Source link