Pickford backed to be World Cup hit for England
FORMER ENGLAND KEEPER BACKS EX-BLACK CAT TO SHINE WITH ENGLAND IN RUSSIA
Jordan Pickford has been backed to shine at the World Cup by former England goalkeeper Nigel Martyn.
Everton forked out a fee rising to £30million to acquire the 24-year-old from home town club Sunderland last summer, making him the most expensive British goalkeeper ever.
He has dealt with the price tag impressively during a frustrating campaign for the Toffees, often proving an assured presence on the ball and a fine shot-stopper.
Such displays appear to have earned him the starting role for England, with Gareth Southgate choosing him for the penultimate pre-World Cup friendly against Nigeria before handing him the number one shirt for Russia yesterday.
Former England goalkeeper Martyn does not see much between him and Jack Butland, but believes Pickford has what it takes to flourish on the global stage.
“I think you could go with any of them, to be honest,” Martyn said.
“Jordan has had an excellent season at Everton.
“He was probably the shining light of a slightly disappointing campaign, so he’ll be going into the tournament full of confidence and would definitely do a good job.
“The same would be said about Jack Butland. In exactly the same way, he’s an excellent goalkeeper and would fit in easily.
“If Pickford does get the nod and he plays, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to any people at Everton if he has a really good tournament.”
With Pickford handed the number one shirt at the World Cup, Stoke goalkeeper Butland has to settle for 13 – the number Martyn wore at four major tournaments.
Back-up to Chris Woods at Euro 92, the 23-cap goalkeeper then played second fiddle to David Seaman at Euro 2000 as well as the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. “You know there’s one space at the start,” Martyn said. “You’re all trying to get in there. “You’re working on your own so much that you can’t help get to know and like people, and therefore generally speaking goalkeepers all seem to get on. “I think there’s a big workethic amongst the goalkeepers and when you’re working with people and watching them train you get a respect between all of you.” Martyn also has immense respect for England manager Southgate having seen him at close quarters. The goalkeeper won 12 of his caps alongside the defender, who he saw come on leaps and bounds during their time at Crystal Palace. “When he first came through into the first team squad at Palace, he was a very intelligent young man,” Martyn said, speaking at the launch of GOALS’ Football Revolution campaign at GOALS Leeds.
“A bit shy, a bit nervous, but you could see the intelligence there.
“Even in his time at Palace, he progressed a long way with his football. He’s football intelligent as well as being an intelligent guy himself.
“He could read situations and see things happening and give advice to other players.”
Martyn has been impressed by the way Southgate has taken to managing England, but he would have taken 75-cap goalkeeper Joe Hart to the World Cup despite concerns over gametime and form.
“Joe Hart was obviously a very difficult decision to go that way, but obviously he is looking for future tournaments as well,” the 51-yearold said ahead of Thursday’s final warm-up friendly against Costa Rica at Elland Road.
“If I’d have been given the choice at that time, I think yes I would have (taken Hart) but purely only because of the experience angle.
“If you did put one of the younger guys in and a bad game happens, which can happen, then you’ve got somebody you can sort of rely on to fall back on.
“But I think what Gareth feels with the three goalkeepers he is taking is he’s happy to play any of them and that gives them confi- dence to go out there and actually perform.”
England squad numbers: 1 Jordan Pickford (Everton), 2 Kyle Walker (Manchester City), 3 Danny Rose (Tottenham), 4 Eric Dier (Tottenham), 5 John Stones (Manchester City), 6 Harry Maguire (Leicester), 7 Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), 8 Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), 9 Harry Kane (captain, Tottenham),
10 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), 11 Jamie Vardy (Leicester), 12 Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), 13 Jack Butland (Stoke), 14 Danny Welbeck (Arsenal), 15 Gary Cahill (Chelsea), 16 Phil Jones (Manchester United), 17 Fabian Delph (Manchester City), 18 Ashley Young (Manchester United), 19 Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), 20 Dele Alli (Tottenham), 21 Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), 22 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), 23 Nick Pope (Burnley).
‘Jordan was probably the shining light of a slightly disappointing campaign.’