When putting his laces through the new World Cup ball for the first time this week, Jordan Pickford declared: ‘I’ll be able to ping this a mile!’ One place he could yet ping the Adidas Trionda is the top corner of the opposition goal.
‘I’d back myself 100 per cent to take a penalty,’ says the England goalkeeper. ‘I’ll put the practice in and execute it. I play for England. I represent the country. I’ll step up and take it when needs be. But I want to focus on saving them as well!’
It may seem early for such conversation, but as Pickford learnt under Gareth Southgate when beating England’s World Cup penalty curse against Colombia in 2018, preparation is everything.
‘We’ll start implementing a little bit of work relatively soon,’ reveals the 32-year-old. ‘I’ll be keeping that work close to my chest, but it’s just the small details and everything that incorporates to being the best team we can be.’
Pickford the taker is not quite as fanciful as it sounds. After all, he scored England’s fifth penalty in a Nations League shootout win over Switzerland in 2019, using his left boot to smash it high to the right.
And with Thomas Tuchel likely to use all six substitutions if knockout matches go the distance, there is logic in planning around the certainty that Pickford will still be on the pitch. Take Arsenal in Saturday’s Champions League final. By the time penalties arrived, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz had all been withdrawn, leaving defender Gabriel to take – and miss – the decisive kick. You suspect Pickford would rank considerably higher than 11th in England’s order. Before the possibility of penalties, however, they have three group matches to negotiate.
Jordan Pickford says he would take a penalty for England in a World Cup shootout if it arises
He scored against Switzerland in the 2019 UEFA Nations League third-place play-off shootout
Tuchel has spoken to his players this week about ‘chapters’. Chapter one is here in Florida, where England will train for the next 10 days and play warm-up matches against New Zealand and Costa Rica. That ‘warm-up’ notion is something of a contradiction, given Pickford and his team-mates spent much of their opening session in Palm Beach Gardens trying to cool down.
‘Let’s sit in the shade,’ he had said to us when leaving the training pitch and removing his gloves. ‘I wouldn’t shake my hand, they’re sweating!’
This will be Pickford’s third World Cup and fifth major tournament. He holidayed with his wife and three children in the Caribbean last week and met up with the squad in West Palm Beach on Monday. He knows without prompting the timeline of what is needed to win the tournament.
‘I said to my family, ‘I’m leaving for seven weeks but it’s going to change our whole lives. It’s going to be the best’. That’s our main goal, to win, to lift the trophy. This is our first chapter. There’s going to be a few chapters along the way to get to the final and hurdles to overcome. But that’s the message, and we know what our end goal is.’
Pickford has felt defeat in two major finals, one semi-final and one quarter-final.
‘We’re not far off,’ he says. ‘We have players who are constantly winning things. I know, personally, I’ve not won anything – I’d love to win a lot of things – but my main focus is being a leader around the place. Harry Kane is the captain, but he can’t just be leading by himself.’
Only Kane (112), Jordan Henderson (89) and John Stones (87) have more than Pickford’s 82 caps. Make it to the final and he will be within 10 of a century. He admits that landmark is in the back of his mind, but to achieve it he will need to stay at the forefront of Tuchel’s thinking.
‘With any new manager, you’ve got to set your standards, set your stall out again,’ he says. ‘You might have a good reputation, but they need to see it with their own eyes. When the manager came in last March, I said to myself, “Right, I need to go and showcase who I am and what I can do to make an impression”. That drives me.’
Returning to the subject of the new ball before Pickford returned to the sanctuary of the team hotel – a storm hits within an hour of our chat – he smiled: ‘It always benefits the outfield players more than the keepers, doesn’t it?!’
Pickford, from 12 yards at least, could yet be one of those outfield players.
