WHO WILL SAVE US?
Southgate dilemma over keeper
GARETH Southgate says he has no idea who his first-choice keeper will be just 90 days before England start their World Cup against Tunisia.
With Joe Hart only recently back in West Ham’s first team and more regular Premier League performers Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford lacking international experience, Southgate confesses it is the area he will be looking at more closely than most over the doubleheader against Holland and Italy that starts in Amsterdam on Friday.
“It’s unfortunate we are still weighing the decisions up but that is where we are,” Southgate said. “Everyone is clearer on other positions in the field but in goal we’ve had someone who has been No 1 for a period of time but currently isn’t No 1 for his club due to a change in circumstance. “Our next two are quite a bit younger. In Butland’s case, he has missed a year with injury. You have got to balance keeping the ball out of the net with distribution. “We’ve got to pick the keeper in terms of who is going to be the best to play the way we want to play.”
JACK BUTLAND should be England’s No1 at the World Cup and Gareth Southgate needs to tell him that now, says the man who knows a goalkeeper selection conundrum better than most.
Only Peter Shilton and David Seaman have represented England at more major championship finals than Nigel Martyn.
But while those two legends of the game were almost guaranteed the firstchoice jersey whenever they played, from the 1992 European Championships to the 2002 World Cup – when Martyn was warming up even as Ronaldinho’s infamous deflected shot floated over Seaman – the former Crystal Palace and Leeds keeper never knew if he would be called on or not.
As a result, he knows how difficult one of England’s relatively untried and untested goalkeepers would find it to be thrown into the limelight when England kick off their World Cup campaign against Tunisia on June 18.
England’s international history is littered with gaffes from inexperienced keepers thrown into the nation’s most important games: Rob Green in the World Cup 2010 opener against USA; Scott Carson in the vital 2007 qualifier against Croatia at Wembley; right the way back to Peter Bonetti standing in for the poorly Gordon Banks in the 1970 World Cup quarter-final.
“And they were all good goalies,” said Martyn, right. “The mistakes were something that happened which would not have happened ordinarily because of the occasion.
“It is a concern for Gareth and why he might still be tempted to go back to Joe Hart even though he is not playing.
“The raw ability has to be there, without question, and Joe has certainly shown over the years that he is good enough. But then he has gone to tournaments and made mistakes. That is why there will always be question marks against him. What is underneath him, though, is untried at international level and largely untried even on the domestic front.
“Overall, though, Stoke’s Jack Butland is the one I like the most – but ideally he should be playing for one of the top six clubs and getting used to that level of scrutiny and experience.
“What Gareth would have liked to have seen is somebody with experience to come out and grab that position. But Butland, Jordan Pickford and Nick Pope are not going to have that because they are at Stoke, Everton and Burnley respectively.” Back in the day, Stoke was perfectly good enough for both Banks and Shilton. Now with TV cameras focused on the biggest games, a keeper has to be comfortable living in the fiercest of spotlights. “Playing for one of the top clubs does not make you physically a better goalkeeper, but it means you can cope better with situations that come up,” Martyn said. “The more Champions League and England games you play, the more comfortable you are in that environment. In the build-up to the vital World Cup qualifier against Greece in 2001, I was told I was playing the day before. But six months earlier I was in the Champions League semi-finals, so I was confident and in the end pleased with my performance that day.”
Time to prepare mentally is key, though, which is why Martyn feels it is no coincidence his worst England moment came when he was given just 10 minutes’ notice he was going to play against Romania.
“David Seaman did his calf in the warm-up,” Martyn recalled. “The warm-up for the nonplaying keepers is always more
You’re more comfortable going towards a game knowing you are playing
intense and I remember singing the National Anthem with sweat pouring off me because of the mad, blind panic.
“I ended up conceding three goals – the second one I would consider the worst mistake of my international career, when a feeble punch cost us.”
England were heading home from Charleroi early and that is why Southgate’s first choice for 2018 must be given as much advance warning as possible.
Indications are that Butland and Pickford will take turns to start against Holland and Italy, with Southgate already well aware of Hart’s attributes at this level. Then he must decide. “These two internationals are an opportunity for somebody to claim that spot,” said Martyn. “Perhaps then Gareth does need to make a decision because it is of benefit to the player to know.
“You are more comfortable going towards a game knowing you’re playing and you get an inner confidence. That’s so much better than turning up to be told. You have too much to process and you have to do it quicker. If you know a long way out, you are more comfortable.
“The whole build-up is then going to be what you need and what you want. In the end, that might just prevent another goalkeeping disaster this summer.”