Who will be No1? It was a question that used to be posed frequently at this time of the year, in the days when the music charts mattered.
It is a question, though, that Gareth Southgate will be asking himself – and will increasingly find himself being asked – as we enter 2018, with one date (June 18) and one city (Volgograd) firmly in the England head coach’s mind.
The debate about who should be England’s No 1 for that opening World Cup fixture against Tunisia has been boiling away for the last couple of months but, if Jordan Pickford has anything to do with it, the debate will be over by spring.
Jordan Pickford produced a superb display in Everton’s 0-0 draw against Chelsea
Everton and Pickford frustrated Chelsea as Sam Allardyce’s side took a point at Goodison Park
Gareth Southgate, the England boss, would have been impressed by what he saw of Pickford
While Joe Hart finds himself in the shadows at West Ham, his form appearing to tail-off, and Jack Butland’s efforts being compromised by the tailspin in to which Stoke have fallen, Pickford is going from strength to strength. Southgate, sat in the stands at Goodison Park on a pre-Christmas scouting mission, saw that first hand.
He’s now kept four clean sheets in his last six Premier League matches and this shutout against Chelsea was arguably his most mature performance yet. Everything, from his handling to his concentration and shot-stopping, was exemplary, few people did more to chisel out what Sam Allardyce called “a well-earned” point for Everton.
For all the criticism that came Everton’s way following their huge summer transfer outlay – Sandro Ranmirez’s second half cameo was evidence of what they got wrong – the one noticeable exemption from the flak was Pickford. Everton broke their club record fee to bring him from Sunderland but there can be no doubt their £30million investment has paid dividends.
From day one, he has not put a glove out of place. Wayne Rooney’s fairytale goal in the Premier League opener may have commanded the headlines but that victory against Stoke was made certain by a fantastic Pickford save in the dying minutes. Likewise, when a crucial match with West Ham in November was evenly poised, Pickford’s penalty save from Manuel Lanzini transformed the contest.
Southgate has been well aware of what Pickford can do for some time. Even before he handed him his Under-21 debut against the United States in September 2015, Southgate was speaking enthusiastically about what the talent the then Preston loanee possessed and suggested he would be a big player in years to come.
Since joining Everton in the summer from Sunderland, Pickford has done nothing wrong
Pickford’s attitude and character suggests he is ready for the stage of a World Cup
Maybe that moment will arrive in Russia. Sam Allardyce may have sounded a note of caution, intimating that this is a tournament too soon given his age, but one of Pickford’s most striking attributes is his bloodimindness; an ability to block out the noise and concentrate solely on the job in hand. Nothing bothers him.
The same, it should be noted, is true of Butland but soon enough Southgate is going to have to make a decision about who will get the gloves for the World Cup. He will have left Goodison Park running the question of who should be No 1 through his mind. It is to Pickford’s credit that the manager decision is anything but straightforward.