GRADING QATAR WORLD CUP 2022 KITS PART 2
Joao Virginia impressed during the brief spell he got between the posts for Everton recently.
The youngster put forward his case to battle Jordan Pickford next season, with Robin Olsen only at the club on loan.
We asked Nigel Martyn – during an exclusive chat with Everton.News – how he assessed Everton’s goalkeeping situation.
He feels that if Virginia continues to impress, there will come a point where he could become Everton’s number two and wonders whether Olsen would be happier being first choice somewhere else at this stage of his career.
“He seemed to do okay from what I saw but I haven’t seen enough to know whether he can challenge next season,” Martyn said of Virginia.
“Robin Olsen has done well as a number two, pushing to try and get in in the earlier part of the season. If the youngster’s good enough, you’d keep all three and see how he develops.
“You’d go with your experienced goalkeeper if Pickford was out for any length of time, but there comes a tipping point when you put your weight behind Virginia and get him pushing Pickford.
“Then Olsen becomes the experienced guy who can step in if needed – or he might want to move on as he’s only in his mid-30s. He’ll still want to play and it depends on his drive and how much he’s happy on the bench.
“I played with Richard Wright and he was desperate to play and then he was happy to move to Man City as a number three – but for me I’d just want to play, even for a lesser team.
“Robin Olsen comes across as a nice guy and I don’t know how he’s going to handle that but there might be a conversation with the manager about how he sees it going forward.
“He’s an international in his own right and will want to playing somewhere.”
It seems likely that either Olsen’s loan will not be made permanent or extended or Virginia will make a temporary switch somewhere else next season.
That said, some clubs in the country do have three goalkeepers on their books who are all good enough to play – and it would certainly keep Pickford on his toes.
Nigel Martyn speaking to Everton News: Archive
