The Swiss national team has a luxury problem in the goalkeeper position, otherwise Gregor Kobel would not be on the bench. The situation is completely different for England. Ex-Nati goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbühler explains why in the football talk "Home game with the Nati".
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- In the football talk "Heimspiel bei der Nati", Pascal Zuberbühler analyzes the goalkeeping situation in England.
- One problem is that goalkeepers in England are "not protected" and there is a lack of role models.
- Although he does not see Jordan Pickford as a weak point, Zubi believes he would have to take a back seat with the Swiss.
Ahead of the quarter-final between Switzerland and England, blue Sport expert Pascal Zuberbühler also takes a close look at the goalkeepers. From the outside, the advantages seem to be clearly on Switzerland's side. Zubi does not contradict this in the football talk "Heimspiel bei der Nati", saying that Jordan Pickford is not a weak point, "but not a high-flyer either". Nevertheless, he is the best goalkeeper in England. "There's no other goalkeeper you can bring in," says Zubi.
One problem in England is that goalkeepers are not highly valued. "The English national team goalkeeper is not protected, he is destroyed." The fans in the pubs make a real hype out of questioning the goalkeeper with every back pass. After the era of David Seaman - the 60-year-old stood between the posts 75 times for England between 1988 and 2002 - one goalkeeper after another was burned.
"They have good goalkeepers, but they're not protected"
Do the English simply not have good goalkeepers? Zubi disagrees and says again: "They have good goalkeepers, but they're not protected." Pickford is the first goalkeeper to enjoy the trust of national team coach Gareth Southgate. "They have a good education in England, a very good one in fact."
But there are no role models in England. "There's no Kobel, Sommer, Mvogo etc. up front to look up to." Zubi underlines this with an observation from everyday life: "You see kids in goalie shirts on our football pitches these days. They wear goalie shirts from Sommer. You don't see that in England, where the boys go to training in Pickford shirts. That doesn't happen and that's just a problem that exists in English football."
And what does Zubi think about the theory that Pickford would not have made the Swiss European Championship squad? "I would say that he would be in the squad, but not as number one. The way we're set up in Switzerland in the goalkeeping position, we certainly don't have to hide anywhere in the world."
Even if Zubi would only see Pickford as Switzerland's number three, he warns against underestimating the 30-year-old Everton keeper: "Pickford has a fantastic release with his foot. He's brutally strong there." He also works well with his team-mates, who can sense him and know exactly where he can play the ball. So Pickford is definitely not a fly-half.
