Pickford ready to play ball as first-choice sweeper-keeper
in Repino
Jordan Pickford insists the pressure of playing in his first World Cup will not stop him being England’s sweeper-keeper in Russia.
Manager Gareth Southgate has given Pickford the No1 jersey in the clearest indication he will start as first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Jack Butland and Nick Pope.
Pickford suits Southgate’s style of encouraging his team to play out from the back and the 24-year-old says that approach will not change, even when the pressure is on.
“I have always been confident, but never arrogant,” said Pickford. “I always try to be ready and right for the game, and I always enjoy playing and, sometimes, playing out from the back.
“It is just a nice feeling, knowing I am capable of doing it and it is what the manager wants. It doesn’t faze me.
“It is all about game management as well and, if you watch the games, I always play out at the right times. I would not take unnecessary risks and I would never try to overkill the players I am passing to.
“That is the way we are going to play and that is the style I am very suited to, very capable of doing, so I am going to do it.
“Whether it is a friendly, a qualifier or the actual World Cup, that is the way we are going to play. But it’s about the time you do it.”
Although being given the No 1 jersey is special for Pickford, it perhaps says more about his ambition to show off his distribution that, as a child, he had Paul Gascoigne’s England shirt.
“Gazza wore No 19 at Italia 90 and I’ve got that one,” said Pickford. “The No1 shirt has a massive history to it. I’m well aware of that. And now I am part of that history.
“Hopefully, it means I do get the nod. I feel I am ready to be No1 and I don’t think I have done anything wrong not to get it. If I do, then I hope I can do it justice. It will be great. Looking at the keepers over the years, they’ve been massive. Look at Harty [Joe Hart], 70-odd caps as No 1 keeper. Hopefully, I have the chance to wear that shirt for a long time, too.”
Although Hart has been a role model for Pickford, it is two of Pickford’s potential opponents at the World Cup who he believes are the best.
“[Manuel] Neuer is one I really admire because he plays the goalkeeping role in his own way,” said Pickford. “You have got to play it your own way, but he takes it to the next level the way he plays. [David] De Gea has been unbelievable for the last two or three seasons and in my book is probably the best in the world at the minute.”