With just days before England kick off their World Cup campaign in Qatar against Iran, there is still a heavy debate over who should be starting in goal for the 3 lions.
Gareth Southgate released his final squad to travel to Qatar for the World Cup finals, which included three goalkeepers. Nick Pope from Premier League high-flyers Newcastle, Aaron Ramsdale from Premier League leaders, Arsenal and Everton and (currently) England’s number 1, Jordan Pickford.
The latter of the 3 started all of England’s games in the European Championships and out of the 7 games he played, he kept a mightily impressive 5 clean sheets, just missing out on the competition’s golden glove award to Italy’s shoot-out hero, Gianluigi Donnarumma.
He was also a stand-out performer for England in the World Cup in 2018, helping his side to an impressive Semi-final finish before being knocked out by Croatia.
Seeing how well Pickford has performed in an England shirt, many neutral fans would question why there is a debate about who should start in goal for England at this year’s World Cup.
However, this opinion was not shared by former England and Liverpool midfielder, Jamie Redknapp.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the pundit picked his preferred line-up for the 3 lions going into the World Cup in a few days. In his choice of goalkeepers, he picked Nick Pope AND Aaron Ramsdale over the Everton shot-stopper.
“I’m picking this team, first day of the tournament. I just pick Pope, Ramsdale over Pickford.” – Jamie Redknapp via Liverpool Echo
Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville and Karen Carney all put Pickford in their preferred starting line-ups for Southgate’s squad. Although Pope and Ramsdale’s clubs are performing at a higher level than Everton, surely Jordan Pickford will not lose his place after not putting in many poor performances in his international career.
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