I have to admit that even though his form was so good and I knew it, you knew it and so many others knew it I had given up hope of David James being recalled for England, as I would suggest many, if not all of us had but it came, he played and once again he has his sights on reclaiming the no.1 spot from Paul Robinson.
Those of us that are regular watchers of James, which will be all of us Pompey fans, know just how great – and that is no over exaggeration – he has been over the past year or so, yet some still cannot see this, which in a way you can understand as they might not watch him week in week out. I have a Liverpool supporting friend who still cannot seem to get past the fact that James lost his ‘calamity’ tag, long ago, in all fairness before he even came to Pompey! When I told him I had selected him for my fantasy football team he could not believe it.
I like to think that I do view the picture on the grander scale of things but can truthfully say that if there was a better keeper in the Premiership last season I did not see him, even though Edwin Van Der Sar found himself voted as the top keeper in the PFA team of the year – funny how that side was made up of mostly title winning United players though.
Again, those of us that are regular readers of the new and improved Pompey Site and viewers of PFCtv – which I must say is fantastic, after some early teething problems – we will know that James has never once given up hope of a recall, with him always saying he believed he was good enough to get back in, then if he did he would take the steps up the ladder required to again become England’s no.1.
After being overlooked for whatever reason for over a year his chance came and he played last night, in a dramatic turn of events my thinking is that after Robinson’s error last night that James is probably favourite to complete his return by stepping right up to the top of the ladder by starting England’s Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel in a couple of weeks time.
I will be honest I really do feel for Robinson, as like any goalkeeper he will be judged on the errors he makes, rather than the great saves he pulls off.
He is a top class keeper but he has looked very nervous for England recently. How it would affect him if James did come out of the wilderness to reclaim that no.1 jersey only time would tell, but even though he is 37 years old now, I still think he is good enough, fit enough and hungry enough to play a part in the long term future, so there is only one person I would want between the sticks for England now and that is David James – and he is again sounding more confident than even that he will be again in a couple of weeks time.
PLAY UP POMPEY!
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