Former England international Chris Sutton believes Gareth Southgate has a tough decision to make over whether Jordan Pickford should start for England, as reported by BBC Sport.
The Everton goalkeeper has underwhelmed this season, and has faced criticism from the Everton fan base on a number of occasions, the most recent coming after the Toffees played Crystal Palace last weekend.
Christian Benteke’s tame effort on goal slipped straight underneath Pickford’s body in Everton’s 3-1 win over the Eagles, with this just the latest of a number of incidents that Pickford has been involved in this season.
Now Sutton has questioned whether Southgate could drop the “erratic” 25-year old for the Euros in the summer, despite Pickford having been the England manager’s Number.1 throughout qualifying, with Sutton labelling the situation a “dilemma”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sutton said:
Pickford has not played well enough. [Dean] Henderson, [Nick] Pope and [Ben] Foster have all been better than Pickford.
If you want to win the Euros, you play the most confident goalkeeper, the best goalkeeper.
Pickford played well at the World Cup but, in the here and now, if you compare him to other goalkeepers, the truth is he hasn’t been as good as Henderson or Pope.
He’s so good with his feet but if he’s fragile or not showing the confidence that Henderson’s done then surely you pick the goalkeeper in form, the one who’s made the most saves and been the most consistent.
Pickford’s club form has been really erratic and Gareth has a dilemma.
Read Everton Verdict
It’s hard to disagree with Sutton’s assessment of the situation, and I think that ultimately whether you drop Pickford or stand by him comes down to how much you treasure international experience at a major tournament.
In his two season-long loans with Sheffield United, Henderson has played 71 times in the league (SoccerBase), despite only being 22-years old. The Manchester United loanee has got plenty of first team experience under his belt, but he hasn’t yet made his international debut.
For my money, England are better off choosing the best goalkeeper, and with Henderson having conceded the least amount of goals compared to both Pickford and Pope this season, he could be worth an opportunity at the very least.
