Assessing England’s goalkeeper problems: Options and alternatives
As England gear up for the World Cup this summer, it’s safe to say that Gareth Southgate still has a number of big decisions to make. The debate remains as to the best formation to suit the key players at his disposal, while all over the pitch there are question marks as to the best option in a number of positions.
No more so is that the case than in goal, where Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford and Joe Hart are the favourites to fill the three spots in the manager’s squad. All three, however, are out of form and either playing for club’s with poor defensive records or, in Hart’s case, not playing at all.
The closest competition to that trio in the eyes of the bookmakers right now is Tom Heaton, who hasn’t played due to injury since September, followed by the Burnley captain’s replacement Nick Pope. It’s the latter that, based on form, is unquestionably the most viable candidate to break the pack, with the Clarets stand-in earning the highest WhoScored.com rating of any Premier League goalkeeper this season (6.97).
Without him Sean Dyche’s side wouldn’t be sitting pretty in the top half, with the 25-year-old boasting the second best save ratio (77.3%) in England’s top-flight behind a certain David de Gea (80.6%).
The concern for Southgate and indeed Three Lions is that no other Englishman comes close. Indeed, of those to make at least ten appearances this season Joe Hart is bottom of the Premier League pile (56.7%), while Jordan Pickford (63.2%) and Jack Butland (66.4%) rank 19th and 15th of the 23 keepers to have reached that milestone for appearances in the current campaign.
Moreover, Hart, Pickford and Butland all have the worst WhoScored.com ratings of any season in their respective careers. The former’s current figure of 6.32 is .19 down on his difficult time in Torino - reaching its best way back in 2010/11 upon his return to Manchester City from loan (6.92).
Pickford’s score of 6.68 is a .36 drop off from last season at Sunderland (7.04) - the best of his short career so far - while Butland (6.60) has seen a .30 dip from the 2015/16 campaign (6.90) having missed more of last season through injury, with that too the best rating of his Premier League career.
Is it time, then, to cast the net a little wider?
The likes of Joe Wildsmith (Sheffield Wednesday), Sam Johnstone (Aston Villa) and Angus Gunn (Norwich) have all earned ratings in excess of their Premier League peers this season, and while the quality of finishing they face may be inferior, all three have real potential.
The trio, along with former England international John Ruddy, compose the top four for save success in the Championship of those to make 15 appearances or more. 22-year-old Wildsmith is out in front (78.9%), followed by 24-year-old Manchester United loanee Johnstone (78.4%) and 22-year-old Manchester City loanee Gunn (73.8%). All three have represented England at youth level and given Southgate’s links to the set-up, will surely be on his radar.
With just a a handful of friendly internationals between now and the World Cup in Russia, the manager doesn’t have long to take a closer a look at resolving a real problem within his ranks.
