With the Euros in full swing, Gareth Southgate has some tough decisions to make in hopes of bringing football home. Will his first-choice goalkeeper be an easier decision?
The 16th edition of the UEFA tournament will be hosted by Germany and will run for exactly a month from 14 June to 14 July.
Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and Dean Henderson are the three goalkeepers that have been called up to Southgate’s 26-man squad.
Crystal Palace’s Henderson and Arsenal’s Ramsdale are yet to make an appearance at a major tournament so it is unlikely they will get many minutes under their belts.
The three shot-stoppers will all be ready to fight for the number one position, but arguably there is a clear favourite: Everton’s Pickford.
This is a comparison of the three players in the 2023/2024 Premier League campaign.
Pickford played every minute of the season, and his stats are impressive for a team that had a number of setbacks this season.
Ramsdale was in a very different position as he was part of the Premier League title race with Arsenal, but only made six league appearances.
Henderson played just under half of the league season and racked up some respectable numbers.
Keen England and Arsenal fan Mark Malavan gave his thoughts on the England goalkeeper situation.
On Pickford he said: “Pickford is the favourite for Southgate, and I do believe that the favourite goalkeeper should be starting regularly for their club.”
When asked if the player’s form for club is relevant to their form for country he said: “I think it is and with Aaron Ramsdale not playing that much this season, I know he won’t play as much.”
On the goal he conceded against Iceland resulting in a 1-0 loss, he said: “He probably should have done better there.”
Goalkeeper positioning is also an important part of their game.
On this, Malavan said: “I don’t think Ramsdale is positionally that good, whereas Pickford has the skill of being good on the ball and being in the right place.”
Interestingly, he went on to say: “Pickford is better at ordering the defence and he knows where his defence needs to be.”
Talking about if Pickford is too hot-headed when ordering the defence, he said: “If it’s for the right reasons and as long as it’s not to the detriment of the team then it’s something that clearly works.”
Pickford ended the season with an impressive 13 clean sheets, Henderson with four, and Ramsdale with two.
Ramsdale and Pickford have a higher clean sheet percentage than Henderson with 33.3% and 34.2%, respectively.
Ramsdale is the only one to have not lost any game he’s played in this the 2023/2024 Premier League season, winning five and drawing one.
However, Pickford understandably has the most wins, and this might be a particularly important stat for the upcoming tournament.
With all stats and player qualities considered Jordan Pickford seems to be the clear favourite to be England’s number one and we have so much to look forward to.
Data sourced from here, here, here and here.
Featured image by Alexander Fox | PlaNet Fox from Pixabay
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