Gareth Southgate has reiterated that Jordan Pickford will remain England’s No.1 goalkeeper, insisting there is nobody out there better than the Everton glovesman at the current time.
Pickford’s club form has come under increased scrutiny this season and he was left out by Carlo Ancelotti for Everton’s 2-1 defeat at Newcastle last weekend, after 120 successive starts.
Getty Images
His England rival Nick Pope kept a clean sheet in the 3-0 friendly win over Wales last month, in what was only the Burnley keeper’s third senior cap.
Pickford, however, was recalled for the Nations League games with Belgium and Denmark and will again be first choice when the 29-man squad link up for international duty later this week.
Speaking ahead of the forthcoming international vs Republic of Ireland and the UEFA Nations League double header against Belgium and Iceland, Southgate said of Pickford: “When people say I’ve been loyal to him, he has deserved that, his performances have been excellent for us.
“That’s not been a difficult decision for me. We have some competition for places, but I’d have to say there’s nobody I think is challenging seriously at the moment to push him out of that position.”
Meanwhile, Phil Foden has been recalled to the England squad for the upcoming matches – but there is no place for Mason Greenwood.
The pair, who play for Manchester City and Manchester United respectively, were sent home from the Three Lions camp during their previous call-up after breaching COVID-19 protocols by inviting girls back to their hotel in Iceland.
While Foden returns to the squad for the November fixtures after a number of solid domestics showings, Greenwood has been left out in the cold after struggling for form.
Explaining Greenwood’s omission, Southgate added: “The first thing is we’ve got huge belief in him as a young player, he’s on an incredible trajectory for someone so young.
“This will be a small disappointment for him but there’s a huge amount of time ahead for him.
“He’s an outstanding finisher and he’s an outstanding goalscorer but over the last number of months he’s not had a huge amount of football.
Rex Features
“That’s going to happen, it’s a very long season and he had a very short break end of last season as well.
“He will be resilient enough he’s at a club that cares for young players very well and who have managed his trajectory very well and will continue to do that.
“I’ve spoken with Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] on that and we are aligned on him being the best player he can be.”
from Football - news, transfers, fixtures, scores, pictures https://ift.tt/2GwjeN7
via IFTTT
No Comment