Well it is.
Pickford, for all his faults in an Everton shirt, has been pretty consistently good for England.
He also does have good distribution. It has been inconsistent for Everton but for England, it has to be said with better movement to aim at from the forwards, it has been better.
Southgate wants England to play out from the back and that involves the goalkeeper. Pope isn't 'bad' with his distribution, but he's not as good as Pickford.
On merit, Pope should get in atm. But why we seem to want to hate on our own player so much is beyond me.
We aren't selling Pickford this window regardless and he'll be our no.1 this season - however, in an ideal world we'll be able to bring some decent competition in which means if needs be he can be dropped should his form not improve.