England's goalkeeping crisis: Who should Gareth Southgate take to the World Cup?

The World Cup is just 95 days away and England boss Gareth Southgate still has a lot of questions to answer when it comes to picking his final 23.

Harry Kane’s injury this weekend has shone a light on his lack of alternative options up front but he has further headaches to come when selecting his goalkeeper for that first group game against Tunisia in June. To put it simply; England don’t have an obvious first-choice no.1 heading into the World Cup.

Arguably, goalkeeper is the most important position on the pitch but the Three Lions are going to go into the tournament not quite sure who should be the man between the sticks. For years they had obvious, solid choices in goal; Peter Shilton, David Seaman and, until recently, Joe Hart but a mixture of terrible form and injuries has left Southgate with some serious choices to make.

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And clearly he still doesn’t really know what to as he named four keepers in his squad for this month’s friendlies with Italy and the Netherlands. Hart, Jordan Pickford, Jack Butland and Nick Pope are the shot-stoppers called up and it’s actually the uncapped latter that is playing the best at the moment.

If Southgate is looking at the form guide and stats then Pope should be his no.1. The Burnley keeper only got his chance thanks to injury to Tom Heaton – who was also ahead of him in the England pecking order – in September and hasn’t looked back, keeping Heaton out of the team since returning from injury.

Southgate praised 25-year-old Pope in his press conference on Thursday afternoon, saying: “With Nick Pope his form has been excellent. It’s great credit to Sean Dyche that we have got two Burnley players in our squad.

“We need to find out a bit more about them because if we lose one of our more experienced players then we will need them to fill the void, but Nick’s form has warranted his place in the squad.”

But, of course, World Cup tournaments require experience too and Hart’s 75 caps suggest he should start but he is having the worst season of his life. He made his first league appearance for West Ham last week since the end of November after losing his place to Adrian and did nothing to convince David Moyes he should keep it, dropping a shot at Chris Woods’ feet for Burnley’s third goal.

He also is the worst performing English goalkeeper in the Premier League this season with a save rate of just 53.5% and having made three errors, all leading to goals. On Hart’s inclusion despite not playing much for West Ham this season, Southgate said:
“Clearly the number one jersey is up for grabs. Joe has had a difficult period with his club and he had to miss out on selection a few times when David Moyes came in.

“He’s got a great number of caps and he’s the most experienced keeper in our squad so we wanted to keep him around.”

Pickford had a wretched start to his Everton career this season having made a £25m move from Sunderland in the summer while Fraser Forster, seen by many as the rightful heir to Hart’s England place, has lost his place in the Southampton lineup after a string of poor displays.

Then there are the likes of Karl Darlow who has impressed at Newcastle, Ben Foster who is about to get relegated with West Brom and Jack Butland at Stoke who has conceded 49 goals this season; the most of any keeper in the Premier League.

And that’s before we talk about Manchester City’s 21-year-old Angus Gunn, called up for Southgate’s last squad in October to replace the injured Butland, who is currently on loan at Norwich in the Championship where his dad Bryan achieved cult hero status.

There is no obvious answer for Southgate and he is in a bit of a no-win situation. If he goes with experience and picks Hart he will be criticised for ignoring form and not giving youth a chance but if he selects Nick Pope and England struggle in Russia he will be called naive.

So Southgate has to ask himself what’s more important; getting something from the World Cup this summer or the progression of his young England side. If it’s the former pick Hart or Butland, if it’s the latter go for Pope and pray for results.