Thomas Tuchel has stated he wants James Trafford to play a couple of games for England during this international break, with Jordan Pickford set to play the other matches.
Tuchel has suggested Pickford is still his number one goalkeeper, but he wishes to use the opening UEFA Nations League fixtures to test things out.
And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, although it is not entirely unexpected that Tuchel would revert to a change of goalkeeper as a way to try and appease those England fans still infuriated by how the Three Lions’ World Cup campaign came to an end.
Anyway, Trafford got his shot against Spain on Saturday. England lost 3-2. The goals they conceded were not particularly down to the Leeds United goalkeeper, albeit he hardly covered himself in glory for the third one.
But, putting aside that another goalkeeper other than Pickford has once again played when England have shipped 3+ goals, why is there now a debate over who is the better goalkeeper?
It has been all over social media — people with strong opinions but few facts to back them up — that Trafford should now be considered as clear of Pickford. That he is already a better goalkeeper than Everton’s number one.
That’s all a bit nonsensical.
For one, Pickford has a vast amount of experience and standout moments now to look back on. Trafford has one very good season in the best team in the Championship, and then a handful of games at Manchester City.
The same Man City that spent big on getting Trafford back to the club, and then swiftly realised they needed to go and sign an actual, top-class goalkeeper, in Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Trafford moved to Leeds this past summer, and don’t get me wrong, that’s a good switch for all parties.
Trafford, at 23 (24 next month) is at a stage in his career where he must be playing regularly, and he is definitely a big step up on what Leeds had before.
And he is clearly a player with a lot of potential. He is already good, and soon he could be very good. But he is just not yet at Pickford’s all-round level.
WHAT DO THE NUMBERS SAY?
Even if we just take this Premier League season so far into account, Pickford has prevented an average of 1.3 goals per game, compared to Trafford’s 1.0.
Both players have conceded only 3 goals, and Trafford has averaged a slightly higher save percentage. But with all these stats, it’s a very small sample size.
But let’s drag it out over a longer stint.
Trafford came through the ranks at Man City, and left them on loan to join Bolton Wanderers on January 13 2022.
Since then, he has featured in 170 club games. Pickford has made 186 club appearances in the same timeframe.
Now the vast majority of those Pickford appearances have been in the Premier League, at the highest level. Trafford, of course, has spent time in the second and third tier.
Pickford has kept 55 clean sheets to Trafford’s 75.
Trafford has shipped 149 goals (excluding own goals) from chances worth 175.6 xG. Which means he has conceded 26.6 goals fewer than would have been anticipated based on the quality of shots he has faced.
Pickford, on the other hand, has conceded 238 goals (excluding own goals) from chances worth 263.7 xG. That means he has conceded 25.7 goals fewer than would have been expected.
And keep in mind, in this time, Pickford has been playing for an Everton team that struggled for two of those seasons in the Premier League, staying up by the skin of their teeth.
Trafford’s sole season in a struggling Premier League team came in 2023-24, when he was at Burnley. In that campaign, he played 28 games, conceding 60 goals (excluding own goals), from chances worth 55.0 xG.
He shipped five more goals than would have been expected based on the quality of chances Burnley gave up, and then Vincent Kompany elected to bench Trafford for the run-in.
Now, Trafford has evidently improved since then. He really was excellent when Burnley gained promotion back to the Premier League in the 2024-25 season.
And the numbers do show, he is a good goalkeeper — but why is there such a rush to get Pickford out of the number 1 shirt for England?
And why are people feeling they can make such outlandish claims about Trafford already being a better goalkeeper than a shot-stopper who has proved, time and time again, for club and country, just how good he is.
All stats via Opta Analyst.
Read more – Everton’s five clean sheets don’t tell the whole story — and why Christian Norgaard could help