Jason Steele on England goalkeeping unit

Jason Steele’s inclusion in Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions squad last month came as a surprise to the goalkeeper who was offered something of a ‘trial’ by the England head coach.

It marked a recall to the England setup for the experienced stopper for the first time in over a decade – his last involvement coming with the under-21s coming back in 2013.

And the 35 year old – who was a regular for the Young Lions through the youth age groups, competing at EUROs and major tournaments – could be on the plane to the USA this summer.

“I've come here to help in any way I can, whether that’s giving some advice, whether that's pushing in training when I need to really push and to take the load off people,” said Steele, last month.

“You're there to help bring success to the team and to the country. When you're asked to do anything, you'll do it and that's the type of person I am at. I want to help; I want to keep getting better myself every day and hopefully that rubs off on other people, too.

“Hopefully, my experience throughout my career can help even the tiniest bit. If it does help somebody and that helps bring a little bit of success, that’ll mean the world.”

Ahead of the last Three Lions camp in March, Tuchel outlined his plans to take four goalkeepers to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the fourth stopper taking on a ‘specialist’ role – a role similar to that of Tom Heaton at EURO 2024.

The England boss highlighted the need for a keeper ‘with quality, with experience and with the right energy and attitude’, identifying Steele as a potential candidate.

“I think that's the main value is the experience and the personality; the standards I try and hold myself accountable to every day, on and off the pitch,” continued Steele.

“Hopefully, I can bring a good, positive energy and good levels in training. I'll push – I have a standard on and off the pitch that hopefully helps the group.”

Having played more than 350 games across a career that spans five different clubs, Steele has a wealth of experience.

And, over the years, the Brighton and Hove Albion keeper has learnt the importance looking after yourself and your body – something he can impart on his England teammates.

“It’s a lot of work but something you come to understand is the hard work pays off on a Saturday if you stay consistent with everything; if you stay consistent with the gym, with how you train, how you behave, how you act away from the pitch, how you sleep,” explained Steele.

“Everything is connected to performance, so I try and be as consistent as I can be daily. Hopefully, in the long run, it helps.”

Steele was one of five goalkeepers called up by Tuchel for games against Uruguay and Japan, alongside Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson, James Trafford and Aaron Ramsdale.

And he was impressed by what he saw from the Three Lions’ number one, Everton’s Pickford.

“He's consistent in the Premier League week in, week out for his club,” said Steele. “He does everything properly – the way he plays, the way he trains. I can understand why he’s so good.

“As he’s getting older, he's able to draw on his experiences. He’s been playing a long time. You can see, as he's getting older, he's getting better and better and better, as well.

“That's something people don't realise, especially with goalkeepers, is as they get older, the peak might not be 28 – it might be 32, 33 – because physically, you can still improve at that age. It's just then you also get the ability to use your experience and draw on that.”

From one end of the spectrum to the other, March camp saw James Trafford handed his senior debut as Steele had the chance to train with the best of the best.

“I see real high standards in training every single day,” he added. “I'm fortunate to have that at my club, as well. That's something that you can never take for granted because if you don't have high standards on and off the pitch then bad habits slowly creep in.

“I think we all hold each other accountable for that and push each other to try and get better every day and be as clean and neat and tidy as you can. That's one thing straight away is the level of detail; the high level of standard is really, really good and it's important.”

A usual week at club would consist of training on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of a Saturday fixture, with the Seagulls stopper spending his Sunday watching his kids play grassroots football.

And although he had to adapt to a new rhythm on England camp, the fundamentals of training sessions remain the same.

“I like intensity and intent,” he said. “I like actions that relate to games.

“I think when you come to a camp, you're tailoring around the game and being prepared for a game but I think if you're at a club, your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday sessions are a lot different to a Thursday or Friday session, so you add two different aspects.

“Here, you just focus on one game, whereas at a club, you're working on things; you're trying to improve different technical aspects of your game out on the pitch.

“I really like technical work – work that has an aspect and a twist to it. As I've got older, I've realised that's really beneficial.

“We do a lot of work daily with the outfield players. We’ve done a lot of possession stuff and things like that. I really enjoy that. It’s one of the main strengths of my game. Being selfish, I really do enjoy that side of that side of the goalkeeper.”

And Steele will be hoping he’s done enough to impress the Three Lions boss.

England kick off their World Cup campaign against Croatia in Texas on Wednesday 17 June, with Tuchel’s team playing two warm-up fixtures against New Zealand and Costa Rica in the Florida Series ahead of the tournament.