The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Southgate keeps his options open
Pickford given nod for Wembley, but England boss refuses to commit
Gareth Southgate dropped a heavy hint that Jordan Pickford will be England’s World Cup No 1 by selecting him for the victory over Nigeria on Saturday, but declined to publicly settle the issue with one more friendly to go.
Southgate has yet to reveal whether Pickford or Jack Butland will be his firstchoice goalkeeper in Russia but the scales tipped heavily in the Everton man’s favour as he was given 90 minutes in the win at Wembley.
That was only Pickford’s third senior cap, meaning another outing would surely be beneficial if he is to don the gloves against Tunisia on June 18.
But when invited to put the issue to bed he demurred, opening a slim chance for Butland to play the final warm-up fixture at Elland Road on Thursday.
“We’ll give consideration to who plays in goal against Costa Rica over the next 24 or 36 hours,” he said.
“But I was really pleased with what Jordan did. Normally, when you play for England, there’s not an awful lot of opportunity to produce a lot of saves. But his decision-making on crosses, the punch he made, his distribution and calmness to slide passes into midfield... that was really important to the way we want to play. He can be very pleased with his performance.”
Barring a late change of heart, that endorsement should see the 24-year-old start his first competitive England match in the Group G opener in Volgograd.
Another player who did his chances no harm at all was Tottenham’s Kieran Trippier.
He only emerged as a starter at right wing-back when Southgate decided to utilise first choice Kyle Walker as part of a central three in March.
The selection of the uncapped but precocious Trent Alexander-arnold means he has fresh competition too, but his corner provided the opening goal for Gary Cahill on Saturday, moments after
testing the keeper with a sharp free-kick.
Those at Spurs have long been aware of Trippier’s crossing skills and cornertaking prowess and they could yet be important in the World Cup bid.
“His quality on the ball is outstanding,” said Southgate.
“There were two set-plays, the one just before the goal – a free-kick bang on the money – then the corner for Gary.
“It was a great delivery. But we also know his quality on the ball when he’s in the final third.”
Captain Harry Kane doubled the hosts’ advantage before the break, his sixth goal in five appearances with the armband.
But what might have turned into a walk in the park against a side ranked 47th in the world became a tense 2-1 victory as Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi struck less than two minutes after the break.
Midfielder Dele Alli, meanwhile, insists he has no concerns about losing his cool at the World Cup.
The Tottenham playmaker has become a target as opposition players attempt to take advantage of his fiery streak.
But Alli, who claims he has never seen footage of David Beckham’s red card against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup, expects his football to do the talking in Russia.
“I am a big believer that you have to make mistakes to learn from them,” the 22-year-old was quoted as saying by various newspapers.
“And, yeah, I feel I learned from the things I’ve done before, but it’s not something I worry about at all.
“I haven’t seen the incident with Beckham but, you know, I feel I’ve got everything under control.
“That (opponents winding him up in Russia) is not going to be a problem,” he added.
“Obviously, I’ve done some things before and people seem to think that will be a problem, but it’s not.”