New Jordan Pickford theory raised after England snub - 'I wouldn't be happy'
Paul Robinson has suggested there is more than meets the eye when it comes to Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's England situation.
Pickford found himself in the rare position of watching a competitive England match from the bench against Spain on Saturday.
Leeds United's James Trafford instead got the nod for his third senior international cap.
It is the first time Pickford has not started a competitive game under Thomas Tuchel.
The German also confirmed that Trafford would start against Czechia on Tuesday, with Pickford then returning for England's next two games.
Tuchel insisted Pickford had done nothing wrong and it was a case of rotating, but Robinson does not see it like that.
What does Paul Robinson make of Jordan Pickford being dropped?
Pickford has been England's undisputed number one since before the 2018 World Cup.
You can count on one hand the number of times he has made an error for the Three Lions over that period.
While it is fair enough a manager would want to give his back-up keeper some minutes now and then, this did not seem the time to do it.
It was England's first game since the World Cup, up against the side that won that competition in Spain.
Tuchel went with arguably his strongest XI of those available to him, other than his goalkeeper.
Speaking about the situation on BBC Radio 5 Live, former England goalkeeper Robinson said: "I wouldn't be happy if it was me. I certainly wouldn't be happy.
"You know there's something amiss, regardless of what the manager said publicly. In the first game after the World Cup, at home against Spain, he didn't change the rest of the team, and there was no rotation.
"You're not stupid as a human, as a person, or as a goalkeeper. You know what's going on, and you can sense there's a level of unrest.
"Look at Spain. Unai Simon's played however many games in a row for Spain.
"David Raya is a better goalkeeper than him, but because he's the number one and the manager trusts him, that continuity stays in place. From Jordan Pickford's point of view, he knows there's something amiss."
Ironically, Pickford - hailed a "fantastic shot stopper" by Vincent Kompany in the past - may have enhanced his position as England number one even without playing on the weekend.
The remarkable England stat that says it all about Pickford
A stat has been doing the rounds since England's 3-2 loss to Spain at Wembley.
In Trafford's defence, he was not directly at fault for any of those three goals.
Instead, he had some dreadful defending and individual errors to blame.
Still, the last five times England have conceded three or more times in 90 minutes, Pickford has not been in goal.
Whether it is a coincidence or not remains to be seen, but Pickford will certainly be able to point to that stat should England ship multiple goals in Prague.