James Tarkowski shares who he thinks is the better keeper, Nick Pope or Jordan Pickford

Add as preferred source on Google

James Tarkowski has revealed who he thinks is a better goalkeeper between Jordan Pickford and Nick Pope.

Pickford has held down the starting spot for England since the 2018 World Cup, but questions have always been asked if someone like Nick Pope could challenge him for that role.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Everton’s James Tarkowski admitted that he thought Pickford was the better keeper and understands why he is England’s No.1 ahead of Pope.

Tarkowski thinks Pickford is ‘exceptional’

Having played with both players, the former Burnley man is probably a good judge of how the two compare and which has impressed him the most.

Purely looking at England performances, Pickford has had so many opportunities to impress while Pope’s rare chance every now and then has had so much pressure on it that he’s failed to capitalise on it.

Ahead of the Euro’s this summer, Pope had a chance to show Gareth Southgate how good he can be against Europe’s elite in the Champions League and it had worked against PSG and AC Milan, but his injury now puts that England selection in doubt.

Tarkowski acknowledged that Pope is a brilliant keeper from the times that he’s played with him, but claimed that Pickford was just at the top of his game right now and deserves to be starting for England.

On talkSPORT, Tarkowski said: “He’s exceptional. I was always playing with Nick Pope and I thought he was an excellent goalkeeper, but I can really see why he’s England’s number one because he’s right at the top.”

Pope’s distribution has let him down with England selection

Pope is a world class shot-stopper and you can definitely argue that it is one thing that he is better than Pickford at if you were to directly compare.

But in the modern footballing era it’s not good enough to just be a good shot-stopper anymore, you have to effectively be the 11th outfield player at times to create more space for your team.

Pope has been a huge miss since picking up the injury against Man United and you really notice when he’s gone, but it still wouldn’t be a surprise to see the club target someone like Pickford in the summer.

In fact, if it wasn’t for his Sunderland roots there’d probably already be a fair amount of people suggesting that it would be a good match for both parties.