Jordan Pickford’s teacher reveals school nickname and says he was ‘one of those boys who went to front of dinner queue’
JORDAN PICKFORD was always hungry for success and never lacked confidence, his former teacher revealed.
The England stopper was once again a penalty shootout hero against Switzerland after saving Manuel Akanji's spot-kick.
His outfield team-mates scored all five from 12 yards to send England into the Euro 2024 semi-final against Netherlands.
Pickford has been an integral part of Gareth Southgate's side over the last six years and four tournaments.
And he has always been made for the big moments, his old PE teacher Alan Fisher said.
Fisher told : “He thrives in the penalty situation.
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"Just look at his mannerisms as he’s playing, he’s confident every time he faces a penalty.
“His fiery personality definitely comes out, I think that’s what you need as a goalkeeper to save a ball really, you’ve got to have that ‘Come on, bring it on’ attitude.”
Pickford always had an appetite to be the best as Fisher added: “He was very confident.
"He was one of those boys who went to the front of the dinner queue."
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Pickford excelled in cross country and cricket while studying GCSE PE at St Robert of Newminster, a large Catholic school in Tyne and Wear.
Fisher revealed: “Jordan got the nickname Speedy. You can see it in his goalkeeping, he’s very explosive, very much on top of things quickly.
Inside Jordan Pickford’s penalty saving technique as he bids to be England's Euros hero
JORDAN PICKFORD has regularly been the hero when it comes to a penalty shootout for his country, writes Jon Boon.
The England and Everton goalkeeper, 30, saved Manuel Akanji's effort for Switzerland to hand the Three Lions an advantage in their shootout win in their Euro 2024 quarter-final.
Now, with the help of Goalkeeper.com, we've uncovered Pickford's penalty-saving technique.
USES HISTORIC TRENDS
Pickford is well prepared when it comes to facing the ball from 12-yards.
His water bottle trick has become infamous with the list of penalty takers and direction of shot taped on to it.
But you cannot always listen blindly to most probable placements, and a goalkeeper's intuition should also play a role.
That human element remains important.
UTILISES A MIXED STRATEGY
Being a goalkeeper is often called the 'loneliest job' in the world.
And when it comes to penalties, your team-mates are solely reliant upon your strategy to save one.
Often, we've seen goalies who prefer to favour one side - and continuously dive one way.
However, Pickford adopts a mixed strategy.
Sometimes, he will dive to the power side - saving from Jorginho in the Euro 2020 final.
His save from Akanji in the Swiss shootout was made on the placement side.
TECHNICAL EXECUTION OF DIVE
Goalkeepers are hindered during penalty shootouts - with the Fifa rulebook meaning they have to stay on the line until the shot is taken.
That means the lift off of your dive has to be executed a certain way.
Pickford launches himself from his back foot behind the line, pushes his body weight forwards, makes no large negative step and keeps both hands active to make the save.
This was put into effect when he made saves from Italy's Andrea Belotti in 2020 and Colombia's Carlos Bacca at the 2018 World Cup.
France’s Mike Maignan, by comparison, takes a large negative step, and struggles to reach his posts.
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Interestingly, Pickford is better at saving penalties in shootouts for England than in his overall career average, and better at saving in shootouts vs in game.
Clearly, Pickford performs better in an England shirt and when there is bigger pressure.
Read our full analysis of Jordan Pickford's penalty-saving techniques...
“He had a winning mentality, definitely, from a young age. Again, many young boys have that fiery personality.
"But he had that little bit of an edge to want to be better than the people around him or the other team.”
Pickford has also gained a reputation for his celebrations to saves or reprimanding his team-mates.
Former Sunderland Academy goalkeeping coach Mark Prudhoe said: “He made a treble save and he mouthed off a little bit and put a few swear words in there.
“I didn’t mind at all because it was breathtaking two of the saves and just incredible that he saved the third one.
"Of course Mr (Kevin) Ball was there and he did not like him swearing.”
England can't take their eye off the ball... you've NEVER cracked penalties, warns Jurgen Klinsmann
THE key to winning penalty shootouts is to never think you’ve cracked it, writes Jurgen Klinsmann.
England were so impressive from the spot against Switzerland on Saturday — all five penalties were exceptional.
That will bring confidence to Gareth Southgate’s team but there is no guarantee they will win another one, in the semi-final against Holland or in the final.
Do not expect the next shootout to be the same. Thinking like that is very dangerous.
If a game goes to extra-time, don’t just believe you can get all the substitutions right and manage the game, then win on penalties — that’s when you take your eye off the ball.
And, unless you're Ivan Toney, that's usually a bad thing.
After so many bad experiences with shootouts over the years, it always plays on your mind.
It’s tragic when you keep losing that way and I know the whole English nation used to dread penalties.
Gareth and his staff have changed all that, thanks to excellent preparation. They know shootouts are no lottery.
The German national team haven’t lost a shootout since 1976 — and, of course, we beat England on penalties in the semi-finals of 1990 World Cup and Euro 96.
Here, our approaches were actually very different.
In 1990 we were full of players who were extremely confident in moments like that — players like Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthaus and Rudi Voller, with extremely big personalities.
We were so convinced we would win that tournament in Italy, so we didn’t spend much time practising penalties.
Six years later, it was very different. We knew we didn’t have the same quality as England and we prepared for penalties methodically.
We got through because of an extreme desire to win, a willingness to suffer and, yes, being good at penalties.
As a manager, you have to read every player.
If he’s totally confident in his approach to taking a spot-kick, then he doesn’t have to shoot five penalties every day. Others need constant repetition.
I’ve always prepared my team for shootouts as if they would be crucial.
We never felt embarrassed about saying that. It’s part of preparation for knockout matches.
Read all of SunSport columnist Jurgen Klinsmann's Euro 2024 opinions.