Jordan Pickford will head into his third World Cup as England's undisputed number one, with his sights set on reaching 100 caps and finally securing a major trophy with the Three Lions. The Everton goalkeeper, now 32, has just completed arguably the best season of his career, making spectacular saves for his club and earning praise from new England manager Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel's Impact on Standards
When Tuchel took over as England boss, questions naturally arose about whether he would make changes to the established order. However, Pickford has responded by raising his game even further. "I think you've got to set your standards, set your stall out again, it's like with football where any new manager. You might have a good reputation, but they need to see it with their own eyes," Pickford said.
"I think that's what drives me even more, whether it's a new manager or a new season. I'll always try to improve. I'll always push those boundaries to improve. So when the manager came in last March, I knew that. It was not like a trial, but I felt 'right, I need to go and showcase who I am and what I can do to put an impression on the manager.'"
Pickford emphasised the importance of consistency: "If I do everything in training and have that right mentality, the work I do off the pitch, everything coming together, the game itself should be a showcase of how good I am and how good the performances I'm putting in. So that's a consistency I demand on myself, and I feel like I drive myself each and every week."
100 Caps and World Cup Ambition
Currently on 82 caps, Pickford admits the century mark is on his mind, but his primary focus remains team success. "Yeah, the 100 caps is in the back of the mind. There is always those chapters and always those goals. My goal, though, everyone knows is what our goal is with England. Personally, that's my goal for the next seven weeks - to win, lift that trophy. A lot of hard work, a lot of chapters going through it. That's my goal, but then we'll look at the caps."
Learning from Past Heartbreaks
Pickford has experienced the agony of near misses with England: a World Cup quarter-final and semi-final, plus two consecutive European Championship final defeats, including a penalty shoot-out loss at Wembley. He believes the team is getting closer and more determined each time. "We've had both sides of a final. We've had obviously the Italy one where we went up 1-0 early, two minutes in and Luke Shaw scores and they come back in the game and we're getting done on penalties. Then, we had the other side of getting beaten by Spain, where we went 1-0 down, they controlled it and Cole Palmer comes on and gets a goal, and we're back into the game. So we've kind of seen both sides of the defeat. And with the penalty shootout so we've seen all three in two games."
"I think we're not far off. At England we have people constantly winning things regularly. 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 and do what I do, use my experience. Since I've been here since the 2018 World Cup, just use that experience if it's young lads, if it needs a chat."
Leadership and Team Spirit
Pickford highlighted the importance of shared leadership within the squad. "There is plenty of leaders here. And I've always said Harry Kane is the captain, but he can't just be leading by himself on the pitch; it's got to take others. If it's demanding vocally, taking the ball - there are different types of leaders on the pitch. I think that's what the manager's got - the balance of leaders within the 26."
Away from the pitch, Pickford prepared for the tournament by holidaying in the Caribbean to adjust to the time zone before joining the England camp in Miami. His wife Megan has supported him with messages and pictures for their personalised rooms at the base in Kansas City. "My wife Megan always puts the effort in for me, and it's very rewarding, especially when you have three kids now, you know it's tough to go away for seven weeks. But I said, I am leaving for seven weeks but it's going to change our whole lives. It's going to be the best."
