How much longer can Southgate ignore Pickford not being England's best keeper

It may not have been a costly error as Everton secured a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace to keep their European hopes alive on Saturday, but the calls for Jordan Pickford to be dropped as England number one have been growing louder with each passing week and will be almost deafening now. The current incumbent allowed a low Christian Benteke effort to squirm underneath him after the break as the Belgian's 34-match goal drought came to an end at Goodison Park. 

After his indifferent approach in attempting, and ultimately failing, to keep out a Florian Lejeune effort in Everton's 2-2 draw with Newcastle last month, Gareth Southgate must now be pondering a change between the sticks. With a little over six weeks until the first international break of 2020, the March domestic hiatus presents Southgate with the opportune period to experiment in friendlies with Italy and Denmark. 

There are a host of English players vying for international recognition, too. In attack, Danny Ings has done enough to earn just his second senior cap of his career having netted 14 times for Southampton in the Premier League this season. A little further back, it's high time Jack Grealish earned that long-awaited call up given his WhoScored rating (7.42) ranks among the top 10 players in England's top tier this term, a figure not to be scoffed at having earned that rating for an Aston Villa side sat just a point outside the relegation zone. 

But it's in goal where the biggest talking points have arisen. While Pickford once seemed untouchable for the Three Lions, the 25-year-old is anything but nowadays and if Southgate, who once admitted he'd only pick players on form, had any sense, he'll be dropping the Toffees shotstopper next month, perhaps not from the squad, but at least from the immediate XI. 

Indeed, Pickford has earned more WhoScored ratings below a 6.00 in the Premier League this season, doing so in eight of 26 league outings (30.8%). Of goalkeepers to make more than 10 Premier League appearances this season, Pickford's WhoScored rating (6.36) is the worst in the division. Six clean sheets may not be the worst return in England's top tier, but then five of those have come at Goodison Park against four teams who rank among the bottom seven for shots per away game in the Premier League this season. 

It's also unfortunate for Pickford that two of the three goalkeepers leading the clean sheet charts happen to be English. Alisson, Dean Henderson and Nick Pope have each kept nine clean sheets in the Premier League this season, with the latter duo vying to usurp Pickford as England number one.  

At present, there is greater focus on Henderson given his and Sheffield United's exploits upon their Premier League return this season. A 2-1 win over Bournemouth on Sunday means the Blades are currently fifth in England's top tier, two points off Chelsea, albeit having played a game more, and plenty of adulation has been thrust in the direction of Bramall Lane, with Henderson one of those shining in Yorkshire. 

Given only Liverpool (15) have conceded fewer goals than United (24 - 21 have been shipped by Henderson) in the Premier League this season, it's only fair that the 22-year-old goalkeeper has been mooted with an England call up next month, and potentially a spot in England's Euro 2020 squad later this year. Pope is one who is likely to be on the plane across the continent regardless, and while there has been little fanfare over his form, particularly compared to Henderson, he is one of the key reasons Burnley are keeping their head above water. 

The Clarets have shipped a worrying 38 league goals this season, that the same as Everton, but in Pope, Sean Dyche has one of the more solid goalkeepers in the Premier League to call upon, with his performances reportedly attracting interest from Chelsea. Pope's 77 saves ranks among the highest in the league and while a busy goalkeeper isn't a sustainable approach, the 27-year-old deals with opposition threats better than most. 

A save success rate of 68.7% is also a fairly commendable return for Pope and is, crucially, better than Pickford (63%). However, the duo are blown out of the water by Henderson, whose save success rate (77.4%) is second only to Alisson (87%) in England's top tier this term. That said, when it comes to distribution, a key factor for an England side that looks to dominate proceedings, Pickford is the pick of the bunch. 

His pass success rate of 56.3% from 31.5 passes per league game is better than both Pope (37.6% from 26.9) and Henderson (34.3% from 26.2) and it's this ability to play out from the back that means Pickford may remain at the forefront of Southgate's thoughts.That said, if Southgate does elect to pick his side and squad based on form, then surely it's Henderson who will get the nod ahead of Pickford and Pope? 

With a potential era defining tournament looming for England, Southgate needs his key players in core positions to be playing to the best of their ability and, unfortunately for Pickford, he is very much below his highest level. In such a high-pressure position, too, then Henderson who is the logical selection next month. 

Sure, the young shotstopper may have been at fault for Florinel Coman's late strike in England's 4-2 loss to Romania at the U21 Euros last summer, yet that was an exception to the rule as far as Henderson's performances go and, if his form is anything to go by this term, then he hasn't allowed the mistake to impact his game. It's this mental toughness that is required by a goalkeeper and a fortitude that is beginning to weaken in Pickford's game, noted in a statistically calculated WhoScored weakness of 'concentration'. 

Even at this stage of Pickford's career, it feels as though there is a changing of the guard approaching between the sticks for England with Henderson next in line to pip Pope to the mantle as the long-term answer to the Three Lions' goalkeeping issues.