Monty backs James
Wednesday, 04 January, 2006
Former Sunderland keeper Jim Montgomery backs David James to re-establish himself in Sven's squad.
Former Sunderland keeper Jim Montgomery has thrown his support behind David James after the
Manchester
City
stopper vowed to re-establish himself in the
England
squad.
Montgomery, whose heroics in Sunderland's 1-0 win over Leeds won him an FA Cup winner’s medal in 1973, is a huge supporter of James’ confident approach to goalkeeping.
“I like David James,” said Montgomery when he spoke to TheFA.com.
“The hardest part of being a goalkeeper is crosses. You have to decide when to come, whether to stay on your line, catch or punch all within a split second. But James comes off his line and is positive.
“I never had to come for crosses because the two centre-halves were fantastic in the air.”
James established himself as England’s number-one after the retirement of David Seaman and was an ever-present during Euro 2004.
However, Paul Robinson has since taken over as Sven’s number one, impressing with a number of superb performances, most recently in England’s stunning 3-2 win over Argentina.
But James has not given up hope of reclaiming the number one jersey.
“All I can do is push and push. Given the opportunity this time, I have to be ready,” he said.
"Replacing him [Robinson] will not be an easy task. If Paul is chosen all I can do, if I am in the squad, is help him to maintain his level of performance so he can do well for England."
Montgomery’s former club have endured a torrid return to the Premiership, but in England Under-19 goalkeeper Ben Alnwick, have a star in the making.
The youngster was given a baptism of fire as Sunderland struggled to adapt to the Premier League and has since lost his place to Kelvin Davis, but Montgomery (pictured in action below) has no doubts of his qualities.
“Ben is only 18, but he's got a bright future in front of him. He's doing very well but he's still got lots to learn. He's got to work with the goalkeeping coach and work hard on the basics. But he can be an excellent player,” he predicted.
James and Robinson played three and nine games respectively for Sven in 2005.