{"id":1046,"date":"2017-06-20T21:21:24","date_gmt":"2017-06-20T21:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/?p=1046"},"modified":"2026-02-27T10:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:17:10","slug":"jordan-pickford-backed-to-become-new-england-no1-and-one-of-the-worlds-best-goalies-after-30million-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/?p=1046","title":{"rendered":"Jordan Pickford backed to become new England No1 and one of the world\u2019s best goalies after \u00a330million move"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>IT TOOK just five minutes for Jordan Pickford to show Sunderland goalkeeping coach Adrian Tucker he was destined for future success.\u00a0Everton\u2019s new \u00a330million keeper was on loan at League One side Bradford from the Black Cats when he faced Yeovil in January 2015.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

They say first impressions count and England Under-21 ace Pickford impressed Tucker with his mental strength and star quality as he caught a glimpse of the stopper for the first time.<\/p>\n

Tucker said: \u201cI remember I went to Yeovil to do a scouting report on him. I was working for England Under-20s at the time and Jordan was playing for Bradford.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game was only five minutes in when a cross came in and he got clattered by one of Yeovil\u2019s strikers. He got up straight away, shook it off and did not show he was hurt. I thought to myself, \u2018You\u2019ll do for me, son\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe showed me back then his mental strength. Another challenge came in minutes later and again he dealt with it. Nothing fazes him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mental side of the game is probably his biggest strength. He\u2019s a confident keeper without being arrogant, he believes in himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis handling technique is good and his distribution up there with the best in the world – he\u2019s got all the clubs in the bag. He\u2019ll be up for the challenge to prove himself to be a top keeper.\u201d<\/p>\n

That character should help Pickford after the 23-year-old completed his big-money, five-year deal to Merseyside last Thursday and became Britain\u2019s most expensive keeper and the third costliest in the world.<\/p>\n

Tucker, who joined Sunderland in March 2015 following five years at Swansea, added: \u201cHe\u2019s young and potentially got 15 years at the top if he keeps developing and progressing. It\u2019s just the way fees are nowadays.\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, he\u2019s the third highest fee for a keeper in the world but if (David) de Gea, (Manuel) Neuer or the AC Milan keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma come on the market they would be \u00a375million minimum. But, because of his age, Everton could get their money\u2019s worth and more.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn goalkeeping terms, he\u2019s very young and will make mistakes and learn from them. It\u2019s about getting the overall consistency now. He\u2019s done it over a short period of 31 Premier League games, but the next challenge is to do it over two or three years.
\n\u201cIf he does that then he will be a regular for Everton and the plaudits and England side of things will come.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has the potential to be England\u2019s number one. But there are other keepers in the frame. The likes of Joe Hart, Jack Butland and Tom Heaton are all good keepers so there\u2019s a lot of competition for places.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut has he got what it takes to be an England keeper? Yes, he has.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickford was part of Sunderland\u2019s relegated side last season but Tucker, 40, says everyone at the Stadium of Light wishes him well on his return to the Premier League.<\/p>\n

Tucker said: \u201cIt was a pleasure and privilege to work with Jordan and be part of his progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a Premier League goalkeeper and he\u2019s proven that. Everyone at Sunderland, players, staff and fans will support him in his development.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a down-to-earth guy and he\u2019s had a good grounding at Sunderland. He\u2019s gone through the academy system which has developed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt under-17, under-18, he was playing men\u2019s football in the local leagues of the north east and playing for points. He had to act like an adult and grow up quickly rather than playing youth team football.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen he took the step up with loan spells at the likes of Darlington, Alfreton, Burton, Carlisle and Bradford.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that stint at Bradford, Jordan came back and was one of the three senior keepers along with Vito (Mannone) and (Costel) Pantilimon for our 2015 pre-season trip to America.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Preston got in contact and said they were keen to take him on loan. Jordan was impatient and wanted to play football and we thought it was a good opportunity for him to play in the Championship rather than sit on the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great move for him. He played there for six months and it bridged the gap between League One and the Premier League. He did extremely well, played the games and took to it like a duck to water.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we had no qualms when Sam (Allardyce) gave him an opportunity in the FA Cup tie against Arsenal. He\u2019s been exposed to an awful lot in games and he\u2019s showed his quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast season he was probably exposed more than he would have liked to have been but he dealt with everything that was thrown his way.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Tucker hopes that strong mentality will aid his development as his new career at Goodison Park begins.<\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE BY Phil Cadden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  IT TOOK just five minutes for Jordan Pickford to show Sunderland goalkeeping coach Adrian Tucker he was destined for future success.\u00a0Everton\u2019s new \u00a330million keeper was on loan at League One side Bradford from the Black Cats when he faced Yeovil in January 2015. They say first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1046"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1363,"href":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046\/revisions\/1363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adriantuckercoaching.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}