---
title: "Martyn claims England spot is Pickford’s “to lose” – Why the Everton goalkeeper is here to stay"
canonical: "https://readeverton.com/martyn-claims-england-spot-is-pickfords-to-lose-why-the-everton-goalkeeper-is-here-to-stay/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Elliott Cuff"
section: "Feature Writers"
published: "2019-08-21T12:30:54Z"
modified: "2019-08-21T12:30:54Z"
---

# Martyn claims England spot is Pickford’s “to lose” – Why the Everton goalkeeper is here to stay

Former Everton goalkeeper Nigel Martyn believes that England number one shirt is Jordan Pickford’s to lose, claiming that Aston Villa’s Tom Heaton will struggle to dislodge the Toffees shot-stopper.

Heaton has made a handful of appearances for England and has been around the squad for some time now, although Pickford is comfortably Gareth Southgate’s first choice between the sticks.

![Jan Kruger/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readeverton.com/readeverton/2019/08/1154151792.jpg)

Speaking exclusively to [888sport](https://www.888sport.com/#/home), Martyn claimed that Heaton’s struggle to beat out Pickford reminds him of his own struggles at unseating David Seaman. Martyn said:

> It is all about consistency and taking opportunities. Jordan (Pickford) has the shirt at the moment and Gareth is very loyal to his players. So it is Jordan’s to lose rather than Tom’s to win.
>
> I know exactly how Tom feels because I’ve been there with David Seaman. You could play as well as you possibly can but if that guy in front of you isn’t making any mistakes for England then the manger won’t change his mind.
>
> You have a view as a manager and it is difficult to change that view. I was the Premier League’s best goalkeeper three years in a row but I still couldn’t change anything because every time David Seaman played for England he didn’t let us down. He wasn’t making mistakes at Arsenal. That was my problem.
>
> I had to be consistently good constantly to have a shout but with that I needed him not to be in any run of form. The unlucky thing from my point of view was that he was very consistent.
>
> No matter how many good games I had he would match that and Tom will find it the same. Unless Jordan makes mistakes for England it will be difficult to move him.

The 25-year old Everton ‘keeper has made 19 appearances for England since his debut in 2017, starting all of England’s games in their semi-final run in the 2018 World Cup.

For more on Martyn’s views on Jordan Pickford, [read the full 888sport interview with Nigel Martyn here.](https://www.888sport.com/blog/football/nigel-martyn-exclusive-888sport-wilfried-zaha-needs-join-arsenal-will-give-all-crystal)

### Read Everton Verdict

I definitely agree with Martyn that Pickford’s England spot is his own to lose. Given his age, his ability and his potential to continue growing and getting better, Pickford is the best option to start for England hands down. That being said, if he does make a number of mistakes, Heaton is an adequate replacement, and Pickford shouldn’t feel like he has his spot nailed down completely.

As Martyn mentioned, he won’t lose his place through Heaton’s form alone, he’ll lose it if he gets lazy, complacent or takes his responsibilities too lackadaisically. The more he plays, the more he’ll iron out the creases, and there is no reason why he shouldn’t be both Everton and England’s first choice for the next ten years.

While we may have seen flashes in the past that Pickford can on occasion be erratic and unpredictable, his ability vastly outweighs this proclivity to occasional error. If he can keep working on eliminating that from his game, the shot-stopper won’t have any weaknesses to limit his potential.