As we enter England's Thomas Tuchel era, who is the most important player of the national team?
It was Harry Kane for a long time, but probably not anymore. There is a case to be made for Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Cole Palmer. But it's probably Jordan Pickford.
Is it possible to win a World Cup without a top-class goalkeeper? Perhaps Brazil in 2002 was the only team to do this in the last thirty years.
So Tuchel – England's new manager – better hope Pickford stays fit. Pickford has developed into that excellent international goalkeeper we are talking about. His form for Everton this season has been fantastic. Every time I turn on the football highlights, he's there. Save after save after save. He is only thirty and should still have two major tournaments in him.
In addition, there is a loss of quality of the backups and that is the point here. If not Pickford, then who?
Nick Pope from Newcastle is having distribution problems. Crystal Palace's Dean Henderson is a reliable Premier League goalkeeper who has nonetheless not trained since being named Manchester United's successor to David de Gea. Aaron Ramsdale wasn't considered the best in his class at Arsenal, so why should he be at England? He currently plays for Southampton, where he finishes most games as if he needs to lie down.
If Pickford wasn't available for England we would notice and worry, and that is unhealthy. It also raises the question why this is so.
The standards of goalkeeping in the Premier League are exceptionally high, but the majority of the best goalkeepers are foreign. These are generally also their undergraduates. There is simply no strength in depth in the one position that English football has traditionally been so well filled with.
Some believe the academy system played a role in this. Goalkeepers are taught to be comfortable with the ball at their feet – coincidentally or otherwise, Pope has never been a academy player – but they are not always given the basics of what first-team football actually entails.
“Nobody crosses the ball in youth academy matches,” says a top scout of young talent. 'In the last ten minutes in the Premier League, when a team needs a goal, everything is thrown into the penalty area.
'Look at Arsenal scoring corners under the crossbar, with bodies everywhere. That doesn't happen in academy matches. Never. The academies produce goalkeepers who can play with their feet and who are great shot stoppers.
'But it does not produce goalkeepers who are ready to play among the men.'
Tuchel will hopefully be aware that there are a few goalkeepers who can still be useful, one at either end of the age group.
Brighton have extremely high expectations for 20-year-old James Beadle, who is on loan at Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship and has played for England at every age group level from Under 15s and over. Previous time spent on loan at Oxford and Crewe.
Meanwhile, Christian Walton, 29, is a bet for a first-team place at Ipswich. After spending most of this season on the bench, he played in his team's 2-2 draw against Fulham last Sunday.
Ten years ago, Walton and Pickford were considered the best in their age group at academy level. Pickford in Sunderland and Walton in Brighton, started at Charlton. Pickford developed quickly as we know and has been a first-team goalkeeper for as long as we can remember. He has now played for England in four major tournaments.
Walton's progress has been slower – he played for six loan sides before joining Ipswich – but that tends to be the case. It's worth remembering that the great Peter Schmeichel didn't join Manchester United until he was 28.
Goalkeepers can mature late and Tuchel must hope that is the case, simply because the others we hoped would develop into real competitors for Pickford with England – men like Rangers' Jack Butland – have tended to show their promise to then fade.
Interestingly, Tuchel spent his time as Chelsea manager a few years ago when he was told Pickford wasn't really good enough. The great Petr Cech – in goal when Chelsea conquered first England and then Europe – was the club's technical director and was not a big fan.
But Pickford has continued to grow since then. So far, no one else has really done that.
How Jack Grealish lost his joy at Man City
Speaking to Mail Sport towards the end of Manchester City's Treble season, Jack Grealish revealed one of Pep Guardiola's most recent in-game instructions.
“Pep kept me confident,” Grealish said.
'He said to me: “Jack, get the ball, keep it, make mistakes.”
And there – in one frank sentence – lies the core of Guardiola. Possession, structure, control and, yes, mistakes. Because fouls mean more possession, more control and more structure. And so it goes on.
But this isn't Grealish. Not really. Guardiola brilliantly transformed Grealish from maverick to mainstay after City bought him from Aston Villa. He taught him things he didn't know. He made him mature, installed discipline in him and made him a winner. Seven trophies at last count.
But that was never Grealish. It was never his essence. And now that we've seen the 29-year-old's decline to the point where he's not scoring goals, making assists or really playing, we're wondering if this part of his career is now coming to a natural end. .
Grealish – growing up and getting through – was always about joy. He was about instinct and expression and freedom and all the good and bad things that can come with that on a football field. And now maybe it's time to go back somewhere else.
All football careers go through phases. Grealish presented a new version of himself to the world as City conquered Europe. He fit into Guardiola's structure. It worked for Guardiola and City and for a while it worked for him too.
But now that it's not working anymore – with Grealish looking as suffocated and bored as a bird in a cage – now may be the right time for him to move on. Time to rediscover joy. Because without the joy, Jack isn't really Jack.
The 'riddle' of Brighton's penalty was nothing like that
In the modern game, a player who takes over part of the ball during a challenge but makes dangerous contact with an opponent is often penalized. Normally that contact is from boot to shin or from boot to knee.
Last weekend, when Arsenal's William Saliba knocked out Brighton's Joao Pedro, there was direct contact and that's why many people seem to think different laws should apply. Why?
Stoke's sad financial reality is common
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes Stoke City of the Championship are losing £675,000 a week since being relegated from the Premier League six and a half years ago.
Stoke – who owed much of their previous success in the top flight to their owners, the Coates family – are not the worst-managed club in the EFL. The truth is that they are not atypical in an environment where so much is spent on wages in a desperate attempt to reach the top.
And this is one of the reasons why many Premier League clubs are questioning whether they can move some of their own revenue streams further up the pyramid.
If we give it to them, what the hell are they going to do with it?
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