When the England team to face Netherlands tonight was announced in general I liked the look of the squad. A few surprises here and there but in general pleasant ones but one decision continues to baffle me about the team. It is possibly of little or in fact of no importance who England’s 3rd choice goalkeeper is but the logical, practical and I think beneficial choice is not Bursaspor’s Scott Carson. I have never rated Carson. I find him clumsy and dim witted between the sticks for one. Secondly flying him across the entire continent to most likely not even be in the match day squad can’t wash well with his club or if he is probably honest himself. As I said England’s 3rd in line custodian is not a pressing issue but the fact we seem dependent on Carson baffles me. For me personally John Ruddy at Norwich is an obvious and outstanding candidate. He is having a marvellous season at Carrow Road and this would have been the perfect opportunity to get him involved with an England setup for the first time in his career but alas Turkish Airlines will have a potentially disgruntled passenger this week.
It speaks volumes of the supposed ‘crisis’ of English goalkeepers that was around the corner not so long ago when we were apparently on the verge of switching the dreadful Manuel Almunia’s allegiance from Spain; Then Ben Foster retired after Paul Robinson made it clear he wouldn’t return to international duty, and who’d blame him after he was effectively and unjustly run out of town by the press and ‘specialists’ after his ‘mistake’ in Zagreb. Take those 2 out of the equation and how many English goalkeepers are there playing regularly in the Premier League; the answer, 2, Ruddy and Hart. Joe Hart is potentially the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment but we shouldn’t let that paper over the cracks that there is an issue. The nationalities of keepers in the Prem vary from all over the globe from Oman, Australia, USA and the Rest of the British Isles. The situation can be well summed up by the upsetting and shocking fact that The Netherlands have more Premier League based goalkeepers in there squad then we do in Tim Krul and Michel Vorm of Newcastle and Swansea respectively.
The crisis isn’t in talent, the crisis is in opportunity. I grew up and saw the chances of the ‘Golden Generation of Goalkeepers’ dissipate into anonymity. Richard Wright, Nicky Weaver and Andy Marshall never reached the heights they were supposed to neither do the more modern day examples of Chris Kirkland or Matt Murray, to be fair injuries played a huge part in all of these declines. I then remember the exceptionally talented Shaun Allaway’s career being harpooned by the financial meltdown at Leeds United. He moved for millions from my hometown club Reading (he used to keep my brother out the school team). He popped up a couple of years back now playing for Staines Town in there memorable cup run. Winning player of the round with an outstanding performance; talent is innate, and there is no doubt that was a missed opportunity. With the right support he could have been a winner.
I think there is an abundance of English goalkeeping talent out there. Amos, Fielding, Forster, Lewis, Loach, McCarthy, Stockdale, Turnbull, Steele; with the right opportunity these lads could be international standard of that I have no doubt. The real fact is it is cheaper to sign players like Al-Habsi, Lindegaard or Szczesny from smaller countries where the premium doesn’t skyrocket the prices. At this rate the goalkeepers of tomorrow are being hindered by the nature of the game and if Joe Hart ever gets injured we will have yet another calamitous moment like Carson circa Croatia or Green at the World Cup, but if John Ruddy can’t even get in the squad at the moment, then there is no ruddy way these lads have a chance.
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