Gary Lineker and Wright discuss if Ramsdale can pip Pickford to England berth
Ian Wright reckons Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford should be worried after Aaron Ramsdale delivered a five-star performance against Leicester.
The Arsenal goalie made several saves, including a save of the season contender, to deny the Foxes in his side’s 2-0 win on Saturday, with many tipping him to give his Toffees counterpart a run for the money at international level.
Pickford has been England’s first-choice since the 2018 World Cup, but the Everton ace needs to stay on top of his game if he wants to retain his berth heading into next year’s edition of the tournament.
Gary Lineker was blown away by Ramsdale’s performance against Leicester, and he asked Wright on BBC Match of the Day while discussing the game: “Close to pushing Pickford?”
The Arsenal legend replied: “Without a doubt. Especially with the way of his distribution. He’s young, and he would make mistakes, but he was brilliant.”
Watch your back Jordan
Gareth Southgate has a selection headache on his hands if Ramsdale keeps performing like he has done in recent weeks going forward.
Pickford has retained his spot due to his ball-playing abilities, but the Arsenal man is even proving to be better with his feet at the moment, constantly finding his teammates with his perfect distributions against the Foxes.
With the Gunners mostly playing out from the back, Ramsdale is fitting in perfectly, and he is proving that he is capable of starting for the Three Lions.
Everton often prefer to go direct under Rafa Benitez, and that is not doing Pickford a lot of favours given how Southgate wants his team to play.
The Toffees man has not been bad this term, but he has kept just two clean sheets in eight games, shipping 11 goals.
On the other hand, Ramsdale has four clean sheets in seven games for Arsenal, and his Everton colleague definitely has a lot of work to do if he is to convince the national team coaches that he is better.
In other Everton news, Toffees ace flouted Rafa’s tactical orders vs Watford, it kickstarted disaster.
Be sure to follow Goodison News on Facebook and Twitter for 24/7 updates on Everton and more exclusive interviews with Kevin Campbell.