England‘s most-capped player Peter Shilton believes Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have “disrespected” David De Gea if he had chosen to substitute the goalkeeper ahead of Manchester United’s penalty shootout defeat to Villarreal in the Europa League final.
De Gea was unable to keep out any of Villarreal’s 11 attempts in Gdansk – meaning he has failed to save any of the last 40 penalties he has faced, since denying Romelu Lukaku in April 2016 – before missing the decisive kick himself. In contrast, Dean Henderson has stopped five penalties from 19 in his senior career.
Former United boss Louis van Gaal famously swapped Jasper Cillessen for Tim Krul during Holland’s World Cup quarter-final against Costa Rica in 2014 and was vindicated when the current Norwich City ‘keeper saved two penalties in the shoot-out to send his country into the next round.
“With penalty shootouts you need a bit of luck,” Shilton said. “Some goalkeepers are better than others or luckier. I think it’s a bit disrespectful to say to a goalkeeper ‘look you’ve played the whole 90 minutes or whatever but you’re not good enough to save a penalty’.
“Jordan Pickford faced four at the last World Cup and didn’t save any and then the fifth one the fella [Carlos Bacca] gave him a chance and he saved one. At Euro ’96, David Seaman saved one against Spain and then didn’t save any out of six against Germany. That’s how penalty shootouts are.”
Henderson has been named in Gareth Southgate’s provisional 33-man England squad for Euro 2020 and is being tipped to challenge Jordan Pickford for his starting place after Burnley’s Nick Pope was ruled out of the tournament after undergoing knee surgery.
However, Southgate hinted that Pickford would be his starting ‘keeper this summer by making a point of praising his “focus and calmness” for Everton during his squad announcement on Tuesday.
“I don’t think he’s let England down and he’s had experience of big tournaments,” Shilton said. “He’s obviously had a bit of an indifferent season at Everton but for England and under Southgate he’s performed very well.
“You’ve got to be calm but you’ve also got to be aggressive as well. If you start getting over-excited, it’s going to affect your decision-making. Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship the other day and he was so calm and focused and that’s how you have to be when you’re a goalkeeper.
“If Gareth has noticed that, maybe that’s why the odd mistakes he was making have dried up a bit.”
If England top Group D containing Croatia, Czech Republic and Scotland and end up reaching the final, all but one of their seven matches will be held at Wembley.
“In 1966 we won the World Cup and it’s the only time we’ve had it in this country,” Shilton added. “In 1996 we got to the semis and were probably a bit unlucky not to get in the final, so I think playing at home is a big advantage. Hopefully that will spur us on and give us that extra impetus.”
Shilton was taking part in the #SignYourSupport campaign which sees a giant England flag touring the country by FA Respect Campaign and England sponsors Nationwide Building Society ahead of the Euros.
Three Lions’ fans can sign online to benefit the Nationwide Mutual Respect Grassroots Football Fund. For every signature up to the first 50,000 fans, Nationwide Building Society, will put in an additional £1. Fans can sign their support at: nationwide-signyoursupport.co.uk
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3ySSr3J
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