James Trafford isn’t a lad short on confidence. World-class goalkeepers, a label he attached to himself in an interview with ITV last season, tend to be bulletproof in that respect. And Trafford will need to be in the wake of Manchester City’s defeat to Tottenham.
The goalkeeper’s home debut for his boyhood club was a horror show, played out in front of Ederson, who almost certainly had to stifle a smug grin of satisfaction just before half-time.
By then, Trafford might have been sent off. Rushing from his box to confront Mohammed Kudus, City’s keeper used an arm to prevent the ball from bypassing him. The referee, understandably, did not spot the contact and the VAR official was not interested either. Trafford, in hindsight, perhaps might wish he had been.
In first-half added time, there was no escape. Trafford, receiving from a goal-kick taken by Ruben Dias, erred with his eight-yard pass, and five seconds later, he was retrieving the ball from his net for the second time.
What went wrong? Trafford rolled the ball a yard or two off the course no doubt meticulously plotted by Pep Guardiola. Nico Gonzalez planned to receive on his left side either to bounce a pass into John Stones or to roll Pape Sarr. The Tottenham midfielder turned Trafford’s slight misjudgement into a catastrophic mistake by setting in motion a chain of events that led to Joao Palhinha thrashing home his first Spurs goal.
Guardiola will highlight the execution of the pass, not the overall plan, as the problem. The more risk-averse among us might point to three better, safer options – John Stones square; Oscar Bobb wide right; or Erling Haaland one-versus-one on the halfway line – but had Trafford got the correct detail in what many will view as more simple pass than it actually is, then Gonzalez could have found a route out.
City have almost perfected playing out this way, so much so that teams up and down the pyramid have tried to copy them. Many managers now, thankfully, have disbanded their p*ss-poor tribute acts having realised that Pep can pull it off because he has City’s players. Without them, the risk-reward simply doesn’t pay.
The most important of all Guardiola’s men to the success of his approach has been Ederson. The Brazilian is not a perfect goalkeeper, but he has been a perfect fit for City for the last eight years due to the quality he possesses in his passing and his ice-cool composure.
At some point, City will have to replace Ederson and, rightly or wrongly, Guardiola thinks the time may be now. As successions go, this could be as tricky as they come.
Unusually for City, the plan is not clear. Signing Trafford almost appeared an opportunist move, seizing a chance allowed to them by the option they inserted in the deal to sell the youngster to Burnley. When Newcastle finally reached an agreement with the Clarets, City exercised their right to match it.
MORE ON MAN CITY 0-2 TOTTENHAM
👉 Why James Trafford avoided a red card in Man City defeat to Tottenham
👉 Tottenham enter five-way title race as Frank scrubs away all traces of Postecoglou in record time
Trafford returned to his boyhood club, presumably because he had been given word that he would be the No.1, if not now, then soon. So he would have been aghast at the speculation linking City with Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Again, it seems that City view the opportunity to sign one of the world’s top goalkeepers as one they should not miss. Even if Donnarumma is not particularly well suited to the role.
With Ederson breathing down his neck from the bench and the Donnarumma talk swirling around him, can anyone blame Trafford for having a clouded mind? Guardiola needs a goalkeeper to have clarity of vision and thought. If Trafford is lacking at this moment, then City should take some of the blame.
Guardiola knows he plays a risky game and, especially when you’re learning on the job and the detail is meticulous, mistakes will happen. Such is the life of a goalkeeper; errors are often magnified by goals and, though Trafford is already experienced enough to understand that, he now needs to feel the belief of his manager as a newbie on the biggest stage.
Doubtless Guardiola will offer some words of comfort, but actions speak louder than words. Trafford should keep his place and City ought to stop flirting with Donnarumma if they truly believe in what they have bought.
