Glenn Hoddle names Jordan Pickford on penalty shootout list for England v France World Cup clash
Glenn Hoddle believes Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford should be on England’s five-man penalty shootout shortlist for their World Cup quarter-final against France, he told Betfair.
England face the reigning World Cup Champions on Saturday 11 December after their 3-0 win against Senegal – in which Pickford kept his third clean sheet of the tournament.
The 28-year-old is known for his penalty heroics – albeit when facing them – but has netted a spot-kick before, during England’s third-place playoff against Switzerland in the Nations League.
And the ex-Three Lions manager believes the shot-stopper should step up to take a penalty from 12 yards if the two sides can’t be split in 120 minutes of standard time.
When picking his five penalty-takers for Betfair, Hoddle listed Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Pickford as his five choices, with the Everton keeper taking the ever-crucial fifth spot-kick.
Bold
Although Pickford has proven himself an astute penalty taker in the past and has an undoubted accuracy with his passing with the ball at his feet, his lack of experience taking spot-kicks will surely have him further down Gareth Southgate’s list.
With the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish and Bukayo Saka, just a few names not mentioned on Hoddle’s list, Southgate is blessed with an abundance of options if the match goes all the way.
The one caveat to Hoddle’s choice would be, why would you want to distract Pickford from his main job of saving penalties by burdening him with the pressure of taking one?
Although I’m sure Everton’s number one would be up for chancing his luck from 12 yards, it might be wiser to use the other assets at his disposal and leave Pickford to study his opposition and do what he does best.