As much as they deny it when asked, every football manager in the world has his favorites.
From the coach of an Under-9 side who continually plays his talentless son as a midfielder, all the way to England manager Gareth Southgate who continues with the sometimes comical Jordan Pickford, it’s just impossible to get away from the fact that some players are always a shoo-in for a place in start XI.
Here it is … your first #TreeLions squad of the year! ?
– England (@England) 18 March 2021
Now the first of these two scenarios is a bit annoying but kind of understandable, but the latter of the two risks seriously hampering England’s chances of success internationally.
And wouldn’t it just be the most important thing for England to boast one of the most talented harvests of players in a major tournament in many years, and still be dumped in the quarter-finals due to a goalkeeper error?
But it may not have to be like this …
With the delayed Euro 2020 tournament starting in less than three months, England will start their qualifying campaign against San Marino 2022 on Thursday without the first choice Pickford.
Jordan Pickford has struggled to eliminate fundamental errors from his game | Marc Atkins / Getty Images
The 27-year-old has been ruled out of the three Lions’ upcoming clashes after knocking out Toffee’s recent defeat to Burnley, leaving Nick Pope, Dean Henderson and Sam Johnstone to fight for first place.
It seems quite likely that West Brom’s goalkeeper Johnstone has been called up to settle the figures, which means that either Pope or Henderson will be handed the number one shirt for the next matches.
With an unexpected chance to impress England’s boss before Euro 2020, both goalkeepers have had a wonderful opportunity to make their claim as England’s number one, and boy do we need them to produce the goods.
It would be unfair to completely ignore Pickford’s recent form run for Everton, with the former Sunderland man producing a number of fine performances to help Carlo Ancelotti’s side drive to a Champions League place.
Dean Henderson has had his chance in David de Gea’s absence Pool / Getty Images
But the simple fact is that he can not trust.
Time and time again he has been found on the big stage, with loss of concentration that costs both Everton on many occasions, and it is simply impossible to believe that you have a real chance of succeeding in a big international tournament with such an unreliable goalkeeper number one.
For England, it must be said that he has been quite reliable, but it is only a matter of time before he makes a costly mistake on the big stage.
Admittedly, Pickford is the most technically gifted of the three shot-stoppers with the ball at his feet as well, but unfortunately his mistakes have become so frequent that he is much more likely to cost his side a goal than he is to play an important role in either the setting of a goal or his side’s control of the game.
Both Henderson and Pope have proven to perform consistently at a high level over the last couple of seasons, and while they may not be able to produce lavish volleyed clearances that make commentators faint, they are both much more reliable when it comes to finishing. the basics of goalkeeping compared to Pickford.
Nick Pope has once again looked solid for Burnley this season Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA / Getty Images
Although Southgate’s hand has been forced to put in an alternate goalkeeper due to Pickford’s injury, international managers often take the opportunity to test different staff just before going to a major tournament, so this is hardly a huge disruption to England’s manager’s plans.
But the only thing Southgate offers is the chance to see Pope and Henderson in competition for England instead of just throwing them in a meaningless friendly match with Jamaica, with the delay of Euro 2020 which means that World Cup qualifier 2022 starts before the European Championships have even been played .
Therefore, it is not entirely unlikely that neither Henderson nor Pope can actually convince Southgate that they are the man for the job as England prepare for the kick-off of Euro 2020 in June, with three competition venues to play before the end of March.
It may have taken some time but we may have finally found something good to get out of this coronavirus pandemic, because if England go to the European Championships with Pickford as goalkeeper, you can wave goodbye to the three lions who have any chance of tasting success.
