Darren Bent makes baffling claim over Everton’s Jordan Pickford
Darren Bent claims Everton stopper Jordan Pickford should be England’s third-choice goalkeeper as he gets too ‘over-emotional’.
Pickford has been Gareth Southgate’s undisputed number one until recently with the goalkeeper only missing March’s World Cup qualifiers through injury.
Former Aston Villa and Sunderland forward Bent claims Manchester United’s Dean Henderson and Burnley’s Nick Pope should sit ahead of Pickford in the Three Lions pecking order.
“If I had to put them in order I’d probably go Henderson, Pope, Pickford,” Bent told TalkSPORT.
“I do like Pickford but I think he gets a little bit over-emotional. His distribution is second to none though, he can kick the ball far.
“But I think in situations like the World Cup or the Euros you need calm heads. It’s a difficult one because we know he’s [Pickford] never let Gareth Southgate down.”
Did Bent miss the last World Cup, when Pickford was the coolest man in the stadium when he saved a Colombian penalty in a last 16 shootout?
Granted, Pickford is slightly error-prone but he has never had a howler for England.
He’s one of very few English stoppers to have saved a penalty in a World Cup shootout.
What makes this claim stranger is that Bent almost seems to turn his argument in on itself as he ends up praising Pickford and almost justifying why he should start at the Euros.
If all of England’s keepers are fit Southgate would probably still go with Pickford anyway, the Everton goalkeeper has been Southgate’s choice for years.
It would be a massive personal blow to Pickford if he is fit but doesn’t start for England at this summer’s delayed European Championships.
He might be Bent’s third choice but he remains our, and Southgate’s, first choice.
In other Everton news, Kalidou Koulibaly shares admission on future after transfer links