It has been a memorable season for Portsmouth. Pressing for a UEFA Cup place. Semi-finalists of the FA Cup. And goal-keeper David James has re-established himself in the England team. James’s excellence between the posts has been an undoubted factor in Pompey’s success.
If there was one incident that summed up the value of the custodian’s contribution, it came midway through the second half of the fifth round FA Cup tie at Preston North End. The Championship side had won a penalty that could have given them the lead. Simon Whalley stepped up to take the kick.
The odds, as always in a penalty, should have been in Simon Whalley's favour. But, not on this occasion. As Whalley is walking back to take the kick, David James is standing in the middle of his goal. But he seems to be doing more than that. Andy Gray, commentating, says that David James looks like a giant. Mentally, it’s as if he is filling out his goal. That is, he is imagining himself covering the whole of his goal. In his mind.
Then James appears to puts his focus on the ball. Almost staring it down. As if connected to the ball with a piece of string. At this point in the process. Whalley had better be mentally prepared. For David James is loading the mental stakes.
Simon Whalley then takes his penalty and hits it weakly to James' right. As if Whalley has become magnetised by David James. That he can't not hit the ball at James. The ball goes to David James, as if by his will, he has demanded it be so.
David James has won the mental battle hands-down. Simon Whalley has come up against a master.
I do it in the hotel room before the game, do it on the bus and do it on the pitch. I work on every eventuality and hopefully don't get surprise."
David James’s mental expertise is down to preparation. More is specifically, to his use of visualization techniques. Mentally imagining outcomes; possibilities; potentialities. Expecting the unexpected. Thus in the white heat of a competitive match, his mind is able to coolly handle the pressures he is put under. Handle it, because he has been there before. Been there before in his mind.
His mind, therefore, is not forced or pressurised into reactivity-speeds. That is, forced to work too quickly for his body to handle. When this happens, panic can set in, leading to poor decision-making. And mistakes.
The mentally prepared way allows his mind and body to work in harmony. That is why he is playing so well. He has reached the point of excellence, whereby he will be seeing things, moments before they even happen. In slowed down time.
What he is doing in preparing his mind, for the outcomes that he wants, is an option open to every player. David James, however, has personally decided that he wants to be the very best at what he does. In goal-keeping terms, there may be little that separates England’s top keepers. But mentally, David James is head and shoulders above his rivals.
