Tuchel reveals his England No.1 as goalkeepers set for another job share

Thomas Tuchel has admitted he could do another job share with his keepers - but insisted Jordan Pickford is still his No1.

England boss Tuchel says he could give James Trafford and Pickford a game each for the Nations League double header with Croatia and Spain.

Leeds keeper Trafford got two games in the last camp as it is clear that Tuchel wants to put pressure on Pickford who has been England’s first choice for the best part of a decade.

It could become a throwback to the days of Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence when the two keepers shared the England jersey throughout most of their international careers.

Pickford has 93 caps and wants to stay as England No1 but Trafford is now applying genuine pressure. There is no doubt there is a feeling Trafford has the potential to be first choice in time for Euro 2028 and he appears to have established himself ahead of Dean Henderson.

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Pickford did not drop clangers in the World Cup but probably did not have his best tournament with question marks over a couple of goals.

When asked whether Pickford is still his No1, Tuchel said: “No, he is. But nothing has changed. The competition is on there as well. Like for the outfield players. And Traff gets regular starts now, that's what we wanted.

“James Trafford did well. They shared the matches last time. I'm not sure what we will do. There's an opportunity that we maybe do this again.

“I have to speak with our goalkeeper coach. But the goalkeepers, they are a bit of an unit for themselves, and rightly so."

Tuchel insists that Pickford was “surprisingly” understanding about sharing keeper duties in the Nations League last time.

The England boss also believes it is vital that Trafford gets proper game time and exposure but surely if there is no debate then Pickford’s status is unchallenged.

Tuchel said: “Yes it's slightly different, but when do I have a chance to see another goalkeeper, if not in Nations League? If not in high pressure matches?

“So we had James against Spain, we asked ourselves is this fair for James Trafford to straightaway go against Spain, but I think it's exactly what we need. Because what happens if Jordan Pickford is injured? What happens if he's not available? So it's better to test it.

“Jordan knows about this. We want to use the Nations League for exactly that. But at the moment, nothing has changed. At the moment, he's the number one. And he just feels a bit of competition. Which is good for him.

"Surprisingly.... I was very impressed and a bit surprised by Jordan’s reaction when we spoke to him. I thought he'd be less of a fan than he proved to be. Because he said he totally understands it. Listen, they all want to get their caps.

“The goalkeepers know: if I'm out, I'm out. I have almost no chance to come in. As an outfield player you can accept it a little bit better because after 60 minutes you still have a chance to get your cap.

"Which you can't as a goalkeeper. But he impressed me a lot last time. We spoke to him, it was a very short conversation. It was very positive. He said 'yeah, let's do this, Traff deserves it, and I will push him'.

“And he didn't change at all. If he changed, he changed even to the positive, he pushed Traff, he gave him a good feeling. So very impressive, he did it very well.”