Former Leeds goalkeeper Nigel Martyn has discussed the difficulty James Trafford has in becoming England’s number one.
Trafford is back in the England squad for November’s Nations League games against Croatia and Spain, having earned his third and fourth caps last month. The 24-year-old was given two starting opportunities by Thomas Tuchel, after an excellent start to the season at Elland Road.
Jordan Pickford is England’s established number one goalkeeper, and Martyn has warned Trafford that he can not go ‘looking’ to impress. Speaking on his experience as second-choice goalkeeper for England, Martyn said it’s important that Trafford plays his normal game when called upon.
Speaking to ToffeeWeb on the Once a Blue podcast, Martyn said: “I know only too well as somebody who played behind David Seaman a long time in my career and even Chris Woods before that, that you don’t feel you ever have got that place by playing the odd friendly or the odd half here or there. Or even the odd full international European qualifier or World Cup qualifier. You know the other guy is going to come back in.
“From James Trafford’s stance, would he feel more pressure each time he plays because he knows he has to impress to try and get ahead of Pickford. It’s difficult.
“As a goalkeeper, you’re reacting to situations. You need to impress, but the worst thing you can do to try and impress is to go looking for work that isn’t yours. You know that you’re trying to impress the manager by doing things, and sometimes that makes you do things that you wouldn’t normally do.
“What you have to do as a goalkeeper is respond to situations. The only thing that you’re really ahead of is reading the game. If you have to come and clear a ball, or you’re reading what’s going to happen, that’s the only other thing that you have to do.
“The rest of the time, you’re reacting to what is happening. So, you can’t make yourself have what everyone perceives as being a great game, making loads of saves, if the opposition aren’t having lots of shots. You can only really just keep going and doing your job well, and that might be not even having a save to make and maybe catching one cross, or your distribution being good.”
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