Who should be England’s goalkeepers at Euro 2024?

Intro

Jordan Pickford has been England’s number one for just under seven years now, making the number one shirt is own since his debut in November 2017 in a spell that has consisted of three major tournaments. The Three Lions have played three games so far in 2024 with Pickford playing every minute (prior to today’s Iceland game), making Southgate’s intentions for the tournament clear. However, should that be the case or is Southgate’s oft-criticised loyalty stopping him making a needed change? That is what I’ll explore in this article.

Contenders

Jordan Pickford

Everton

Age 30

60 caps

As mentioned, Pickford is the established number one and barring injury or disaster, will be the starting keeper for England come the 16th of June. Southgate clearly trusts his man and to be fair, Pickford hasn’t given him any reason not to in his tenure so far. He his also easily the most experienced at international level with six times the amount of caps of the second most capped competitor, Nick Pope.

Looking at his stats for the season, Pickford played every single minute for Everton in the Premier League and impressed behind a pretty poor Everton defence. He conceded 48 non own goals in the league against a PSxG of 52.4 for a very impressive +4.4 differential. His save percentage of 73.9% is also the highest of the bunch and a high mark for Pickford in the Premier League.

Southgate may sometimes be accused of being too loyal to his players, however in this instance it’s probably fair to say Pickford continues to earn his number one shirt. 

Aaron Ramsdale

Arsenal

Age 26

4 Caps

Starting just 6 matches in the Premier League this season for Arsenal following the arrival of David Raya last summer. In his final Premier League appearance for The Gunners against Brentford in March he made a well-publicised error and hesitated on a back pass which was charged down. 

Ramsdale’s relative inability to play with his feet compared to other top keepers such as Ederson or Allison is what prompted Mikel Arteta to buy Raya in the first place, and this error was surely the final nail in the coffin of his Arsenal career.

However, Ramsdale’s shot stopping credentials are clear, and many Arsenal fans didn’t believe a move away from Ramsdale was needed in the first place.

In the 6 Premier League matches he played he had a PSxG of 3.7 which looks poor compared to his actual conceded number of 5. His error against Brentford will be heavily weighting that number due to his relative lack of games played but these are not encouraging numbers. His save percentage of 64.3% is also the lowest of the group.

Given his struggles at club level, poor stats and lack of game time this season it seems hard to make an argument for Ramsdale to make the squad given the strong competition for places. However, it looks like Southgate with stick with Ramsdale in the back up spot given past history and him being named in the final squad.

James Trafford

Burnley

Age 21

0 Caps

Uncapped 6ft6’ Trafford first gained prominence when he joined Bolton on loan in 2022 and impressed in his season and a half loan stay from Manchester City. A £15m move to Burnley followed at the start of season and Trafford finally got his chance in the Premier League. This was a somewhat controversial move as Arijanet Muric impressed the prior season, winning Championship Goalkeeper of the Year honours.

In 28 Premier League starts he conceded 60 goals (excluding own goals) against a PSxG of 54.1. This resulted in a pretty poor PSxG+/- of -5.9. Combined with a save percentage of 65.7% these stats don’t look particularly stellar, even accounting for the fact he played for a team that got relegated.

Like Ramsdale, his distribution has also been criticized at times too. Although he’s uncapped he does have solid experience at international level, winning the Under 21 European Championships last summer without conceding a goal.

With Newcastle and Chelsea both reportedly interested in signing Trafford a quick return to the Premier League with a stronger club will certainly help his future England ambitions so long as he can secure a starting position. Being named as one of the four keepers in the provisional squad is certainly a boost, however Trafford missed out on the last spot in the final squad.

Dean Henderson

Crystal Palace

Age 27

1 Cap

Despite not even being Crystal Palace’s established first choice until Sam Johnstone was injured in Marchand being the backup coming into the season, Henderson is certainly in contention to be one of the three heading on the plane to Germany.

Bouncing around on loans and Manchester United’s bench for probably too long, Henderson finally appears to have found his footing in the Premier League at Palace as long as he can continue to hold off Johnstone.

Only starting 18 times in the Premier League this season due to the aforementioned competition with Johnstone, Henderson conceded 30 goals. His PSxG was 27.4 versus his 29 non own-goals conceded for a relatively poor -1.6 differential. However this compares very favourably against Johnstone behind the same defence who had a -6.0 differential. 

The verdict from Palace fans appears to be out yet on who should start next season between Henderson and Johnstone, but booking the final spot in the squad, that will surely help his case.

Nick Pope

Newcastle United

Age 32

10 Caps

The first of the candidates reviewed who missed out and failed to make the provisional squad, Pope’s season with hampered by a shoulder injury against Manchester United in December and only played one game after that. Newcastle missed his sweeping abilities whilst he was out and it’s likely he’ll be returning as first choice next season. 

Pope made his name at Burnley who at one time had a trio of England keepers at the same time in Pope, Joe Hart and Tom Heaton with Pope being the victor in that particular battle. 

Only making 15 starts in the league this season probably ended his hopes of making the squad (despite this being three times the amount Ramsdale made). In those 15 starts Pope conceded 16 goals, finishing with a PSxG of 16.8. This gave him a positive PSxG+/- of +0.8 which was paired with an impressive save percentage of 72.4%.

Pope is a favourite of mine and I believe he has done enough to make the squad over Henderson and Ramsdale it looks certain at the time of writing he will miss out.

Jack Butland

Glasgow Rangers

Age 31

9 Caps

It’s probably fair to say that Jack Butland’s career probably hasn’t panned out exactly like people thought since he first broke through for Birmingham back when he was a teenager. His last England appearance came in 2018 and prior to his move to Rangers last summer his career was floundering for three years after an unsuccessful spell at Crystal Palace, who he joined after a long spell at Stoke.

A member of the 2018 World Cup squad, Butland has had an impressive season north of the border, conceding just 32 goals in his 38 league starts. If others such as Pope and Ramsdale have had issues with season for various reasons Butland has been the opposite with him playing himself to the fringes of contention. He won the Rangers Player’s Player of the Year Award and plenty of calls were made in his support when he was left out of the squad for the March friendlies.

It looks like Butland won’t be making the squad this time, but this could be the start of a resurgence which could see him in contention in the future. At 31 Butland still has multiple summer tournaments in his careers and I wouldn’t bet against him making squads in the future, especially if he can make his way back to a starting position in the Premier League in the summer.

Summary

Overall, it is hard to argue against Jordan Pickford holding onto the number one shirt he’s made his own since 2017 and barring injury he’ll be starting against Serbia on the 16th of June.

Where I would challenge Southgate is with the back up spots. It looks like Aaron Ramsdale and Dean Henderson will be the back up keepers in Germany. Neither of the two, especially Ramsdale have had stellar seasons. Specifically, Southgate’s reasoning for leaving out Jack Grealish and James Maddison, that other players have had ‘stronger seasons. So why then is Ramsdale in the squad over Jack Butland if that is the deciding criteria for selection?

It's also somewhat confusing that James Trafford did not make the squad. Things can change very quickly, but right now it looks like he is the future England number one. So why not take youngster Trafford as third choice to gain valuable experience at the very top level. He had a steadier season than other Ramsdale or Henderson.