World Cup: Jordan Pickford Joins Rick & Lloyd

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1:11Hello and welcome to the Football Daily. We are well into the swing of things now. It's Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith from our comfy little base in Santa Monica. Here's a reminder of the scores for you from match day four. Germany thrashed Curacao 7-1. Japan scored a late header to make it 2-1 against the Netherlands. Sweden are playing Tunisia as we record this. Sounds like someone just scored. Ivory Coast beat Ecuador 1-0 with a goal right at the end from Ahmad Jalo. A reminder you can get all the highlights and scores on the BBC Sport website and app. Now, we got told earlier today, quite excitingly, we're going to get some time with an England player.

1:51And we didn't have that much notice. So it's a bit of a scramble to go and get over to where our recording kit was set up. So we drove over to this location. I was driving. Lloyd was in the front seat. Producer Lizzie was in the back working hard, making sure that we were prepared. And as we arrived outside the building, the place where I was going to park had all these bins in the way. And so obviously the bins were going to need to be moved. And so I'm obviously driving, so I can't because I'm parking the car. Lizzie's working hard so you'd assume you would assume that you would get out and move the bins and that isn't what happened and why is that?

2:31I was doing my hair you were doing your hair so you said to Lizzie you're going to actually have to go and move those bins I said can we get the producer to move the bins please and when she did because she's a great producer in my defence there is no defence no there is no defence you literally got me out of the shower and was like we need to go now it was a bit of a rush it was a bit of a rush So I was then, you know, I recently had a hair transplant. I spent£5 ,000 on it. Looks lovely. Thank you. So I'm going to make sure it looks good for the footballer that we're about to introduce. And so I was using the little vents of the car to kind of like dry it.

3:04And you were spraying something on. Yeah, it's called glue. Glue, it's hairspray. You've never heard of hairspray before. I don't know anything about hair transplants. I thought you were just making sure it was all sticking. Just hairspray, Rick. You've never heard of hairspray. But look, you're talking to me like I'm the bad guy here. No, you are. No. Anyway, Lizzie, thank you. Lizzie's rifling around with the bins. Thank you for moving the bins. But I also do hope you move them back because it is recycling day tomorrow in LA. That's true. Well, once the bins were moved and Lloyd had glued his hair in place, we did eventually get to sit down and chat to England's number one.

3:40And I would say acquaintance of yours. Good friend. Good friend of mine. Acquaintance. Jordan Pickford. My friend. Jordan, after you all got locked in your hotel because of a tornado, how are you all doing? It was decent, to be fair, seeing all the thunder and lightning. I was here playing darts and chilling in my room. Who was the most scared? I think we were all all right. Got a bit of lads got treatment, we had dinner. The only problem was we couldn't eat dinner outside like we normally do, but apart from that it was sound. Have you been watching the games so far together? Who has impressed you so far, Jordan?

4:16Yeah, about four games a day at the minute, so it's quite a good win. A bit of downtime, so I've been watching the games. But everyone's here on merit. Everyone had a qualifier to get here, so I think Morocco played really well against Brazil. You'll know quite a lot of the Scotland lads who are out here, I'm sure. Were you like us and cheering them on last night? You get to play against them or play with them, a lot of the lads. and it's been so long for them but you can see the emotion and how much it meant to them to get that result and getting to score the goal. He's a great lad and I'm really pleased for Pat O as well from Everton.

4:56I think the last few months at Everton he grafted, he worked hard even though he didn't really get his chance but put the hard work in and he's made his debut in the World Cup last night so stuff like that does put a smile on your face. I suppose my question really is when they scored, did you cheer? I missed the goal, to be fair. I was having me scrum. You saw half an eye on it, fine. Have you texted him, though? Have you texted him to say, well done? Or is it completely like, right, now we'll talk at the end of the tournament? No, I've not texted him. I'll be brutally honest. I haven't messaged him.

5:33There's every chance here out in New York last night. How long have you been in Dallas so far? We're in Kansas, man. How long have you been in Kansas? That's a great question.

5:45I was just seeing if you were paying attention and you know what fair play to you. You haven't put me to sleep yet. It's well known that you're in Canvas on camp there. Lots of flooring us.

6:00He's had you on toast there. You're having yourself on toast. We can edit this, I'm sure. We're not going to edit any of this. So you're in Kansas. Keep going, Jordan. So you're in Kansas at the moment. How long have you been in Kansas for, Jordan? So, second full day in here. Second full day? Yeah, climatised in Miami for 10 days and come here, trained yesterday afternoon, like an open training session then. Just had a proper tactical training session to do, worked hard. The thing is, you're four days into the tournament already, you don't play for another three days. Surely you're just chomping at the bit and want to get going.

6:37Yeah, you want to get going, but you also want to do the work and get it done properly. it's my fifth I think fifth major now so I don't think we've ever been the last team like on the last day of the the first round of game so it's been a different experience but I think it's been beneficial as well we've managed to have a little break we've had a big training camp 10 days in Miami and now we're in Kansas ready to go to Dallas. There's been a lot of talk Jordan about the about the heat and the hydration breaks have been introduced how is a lad from Sunderland dealing with these temperatures? No, it's been good.

7:13The heat and that, it's not really getting you out of breath. It's more you're sweating more, more for me. But now I've adapted well. I had a little family holiday and went to the Caribbean and so got acclimatised early and got out on the golf course over there on the morning, so that was a good little touch then. Training hard in Miami, that was the main point of it. So we'd get used to the climate early and I feel fine filming who's the who's the sweatiest in the squad lloyd thank you you got a late call up yeah well yeah no i mean if you need me if you need me to step up yeah i'm not really watching how much lads sweat to be honest with you hey each their own each their own um look i you might not be noticing how much the lads were i noticed quite a lot of things um i watch a lot of the training videos a lot of i watch a lot of the goalkeeping training videos i absolutely live and breathe them.

8:08I love them. What I have noticed, and even now, your hair, it's quite like naturally scraggly. Like no gel in it. And then when you go for the games, you stick gel in it and it's proper slicked back, even for the photo shoots. Can I ask, what's the reasoning behind that? Like why is it slicked back for the games, but like quite au naturel in interviews and training? For games, probably just like a game face, isn't it? A bit of superstition in training. Probably I would I don't really need to do my band every day. So, yeah, it's probably more game face and just ready for it and ready for action, really.

8:42I think you look fantastic. I'm natural. I just wanted to put it out there. Yeah, this had ended up slightly flirty and I thought it was going to. It's definitely not. Yeah, no, it's one way. No, it's fine, but we'll edit that bit out. There's been a lot of conversation about the stuff that you guys had nicked. I think, mercifully, most of it has been returned and I have to ask whose was the Lego I think it was Jason from legs I think it just got a lot of stuff sent over you know for lads to do when the board and I heard I got a couple of pairs of boots Nick but I got them back so that was good you're not into Lego are you I'm not yeah me son is no I'm not no I'm not either no no no no not at all not at all Jordan good luck with it nice chatting to you cheers guys thank you appreciate it cheers mate enjoy yourself in canvas I thought we were in Dallas oh just leave it out and reply to my messages reply to my messages don't reply to my messages on Instagram well I'm going to ask you something here and I want an honest answer are you pleased with how that went absolutely and I'm going to give you some context that is the first interview that the BBC have had with an England player at this World Cup.

10:06And I think that's beautiful because I don't think you're ever going to get a footballer from the England squad saying to anyone else, this tournament, isn't that a flaw? So I think, look, we're getting stuff that other... We're definitely getting stuff that other people wouldn't have done. Yeah, so I think... That's not necessarily a good thing. This is an exclusive. We're getting insights that, no offence, none of the other team can get. So I am really happy with how that went. Oh, this is fantastic. Okay, producer Lizzie is typing as we record. She said, Jordan Pickford said after the producer, that will need some editing.

10:41And laughed. So that's good then, isn't it? That he laughed. Yes, but I think he was probably laughing at us rather than with us. No, no, no, no, no. I'll message him later on Instagram. I'll see that he's seen it and I'll never get a reply. He's never replied, has he? He's never replied. It's been eight messages over five years. He's a good friend, eh? Oh, yeah, fantastic friend. He's busy. Well, let's bring in our guest, former Netherlands defender Mario Melchior. Mario, we've spoken so many times. Never met in the flesh. this is such a treat. I cannot believe by meeting you in person. Like I come here, I thought like, look, okay, instead of staying home, now this is the best place to be.

11:11Thank you for inviting me. No, thanks for coming down. I mean, to be fair, you've not come far because you live in LA. Yes. But still, you've made the drive and you look so bloody healthy. I feel like LA agrees with you. Definitely. You know what the thing is? Like as a kid, I can say as a kid had a dream and like saying to myself when I retire I want to live in Los Angeles and finally I retired and I came. How long have you been here for? I've been here now I think about 16 years I think. Do you think you'll ever go back home or is this home now? No this is home but I spent in a year I tried to spend like maybe around four months I tried to spend in Amsterdam or in Europe kind of because I come to England too and I go to France so in a way I love my family that much so I have to see them face to face and don't only call them because that's that's like easy and why LA what why the dream of LA I came on holiday when I was like I think it was 22 23 I came on holiday I was at Chelsea yeah yeah I was at Chelsea at that time and I'm on holiday and I'm like this city is cool the weather is nice I don't understand why why did I grow up in Amsterdam I'm asking myself then the next thing I said I said no guys hey listen I don't want to say any bad thing to anybody but I tell you whoever would never been here try it one time and you understand me better I came and I stayed well we were chatting earlier and you're saying you come down drive down to the beach have a run down the beach it's a nice life I have to do it you know like like fortunate you understand I have a lady that is you know love jogging too and we come down in the mornings I try to get here like sometimes I go eight nine o 'clock in the morning and I go for a run, maybe 30 minutes or something, do some exercises and just try to take care of myself and work with people like yourself.

13:02Get yourself down to Muscle Beach at all? No, I don't want to be popping out of my clothing. I've not seen you there the last few days. Okay. Yeah. This guy genuinely has been to Gold's gym two days in a row. Oh, my God. I've been one time. Like prison workout. No, I'm not going. Yeah, they're my people. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. You know when you go, oh, you know when you first moved to LA, you went, this is me. that's what I felt when I walked into gold so I was like these are my people anyway the membership's run out it was just for 24 hours I don't think it was massively reciprocated by the other people in there but yeah oh my god did you see Schwarzenegger when you went there well not personally but there's a big poster on the wall so I felt like I had and also we've only been here what less than a week and already we're I think we've gone to a lot of exercise classes but also as well we're going oh it's quite nice here isn't it it's not bad I'm telling you even if you go for well you remember when COVID came, right?

13:54I had some of my buddies. We couldn't go anywhere. We just went for a walk on the beach. In the morning, we would meet and go for a walk for like an hour, and then everybody jumps in the sky and drives home. Yeah, I feel like I've heard enough about your fantastic life now. What have you made of the World Cup being here? Do you feel the kind of love for football growing in America, and in LA specifically? It's definitely growing. Why I say it's growing? Look, the hardest part, of course, they have their own sport. So, you know, like as much as we want them to respect our sport because football is what we love and they love their own sport.

14:29But in a way that their sport is going, they still have their eye on football because it's growing so fast and it's really taking on. And you see how many Americans are getting involved in England. So that is what also helps because they're not doing that for no reason. There must be something. They must see that there is growth in the sport that we all love. And that's why they're part of it. And I think in that country it's growing as well. Let's talk about what was another really good game, Netherlands-Japan. First half was a little bit Cajun and second half was fantastic. It was fantastic.

15:01Why? Because I think, you know, when you score a goal and you're playing against a team, a Japanese team that is defending and sitting back, closing everything for you. So well organised actually. They were so... Tactically they were sitting so well and the guys after the game, like the Gravenbergs, they were talking and saying it was difficult for them to find between the lines to pick the pockets where to pick up the ball. But one of the key things, I think, is the game was going on. You scored a goal, and then you think the Japanese are going to come out. They stick to their structure. And I was like, wow, this guy is not playing around.

15:33Then the second half, you saw them opening up a little bit, but they were always dangerous. And I think Koeman must have told his team, be careful, because as easy as you think it will be, it's not going to be the case, because they can hurt you. On the break, they were really fast a couple of times. What did you think of the line-up? of Konum's starting XI? I thought the line-up was really good. I think the way he set it up, it was like energetic, right? Because he had the forwards, you know, the speed. Okay, Memphis Depay is the main striker that he loves and everything, but he's not ready yet.

16:03He's not 100%. So he picked a different... Marlon has a great season playing for Rome. So, you know, he got them to the Champions League, so he has a great ending to the season. So it's normal that he picked him as a striker. But then you had, like, Summerfield make his debut and the kid scores. He's been really good this season. He'll get snapped up by someone. He's not going to stay at West Ham. It will be crazy. Like the funniest part that I know his agent personally. Give us a scoop. It's kind of funny. His agent's talking to people. I haven't spoken to him yet because I left Amsterdam. But prior to he got selected, I had a conversation with him.

16:40And then maybe I got to drop him a text and say like, dude, what's going on? And as soon as you hear back, let us know, please. One thing I thought about that Netherlands attack is you've got Gakpo, who might get you some goals. You've got Marnum, who might get you some goals. Somerville might get you some goals. But what they're lacking is just like an out-and-out number nine goal scorer type. And that's exactly what it is. Because that's why, you know, like Memphis Depay is so key for them. Why do they bring him back? Because, look, he's injured, but Kummer wants to take the time and waiting for him to get ready.

17:13Normally, you would select someone else. but because he's the main out and out he's the leading goal scorer in holland i think he's on 55 but one of the key things is um if you got to wait for a player that long he's got to be exceptional and we don't have someone not a substitute that can take over the only thing is what you're talking now is marlin has to do it and if not a broby has to come off from the bench because he done well at sunderland i was actually happy with seeing him doing well because i like him as a person so that's why i want him to do well but i also hope that you know like he will get the opportunity and when he plays.

17:45When he came on, that's what I think Kuman did wrong. The 70th minute, he changed the whole game and instead of like Holland pressing forward, they sat back and invited them and yeah, then you get an equalizer. I don't really understand that going to a back five. It just feels like, okay, you're going to sit very deep and against a technical side like Japan, they will start picking holes. Japan is scared of you. Why are you going to give them luck? I always say that, you know, when someone is coming after you, Don't give them the stick to beat you. So, yeah, just play the game and just play the game.

18:19Put a forward, a forward. Give them the feeling like we are still dangerous. But they didn't give them that feeling. They give them the feeling like we're going to sit back. We're going to wait, wait, wait, wait. Next thing you know, they're playing in their own box or around their own box. Cross, boom, goal. It's just, no, these guys, no. Well, I had to eat my hat because when Japan kept putting crosses in, I was like, you're not going to beat the Dutch back four, okay? Like, no, they're huge. And then what, it was about 20 seconds later? If that. Ball came in, header, and then Rick just looked at me and was like, yeah, I really did.

18:49Absolutely nothing. Good punditry. I think Japan were good for a draw, though. Like, it would have been unkind on Japan if they hadn't got anything out of that game. Yeah, no, I get that. But if you look at the overall, right, because that's with the respective way, in the sense of, like, where the Japanese have gone since now. What is it? The eighth or the ninth World Cup that they achieved, and they're growing, and they keep on doing well. The last World Cup, England, Spanish team, they beat the Brazilian. So they're doing well as a country. They're growing really fast and they really have the structure in the team.

19:24But one of the key things is that's why we're saying it will be a fair result. But for Holland, they should have been a little bit more ahead, guys. Because, you know, not because it's my name. Look, the country is small. I know that. But we are very talented in developing good talent in our country. So I think Holland should have pushed all the way and get the win out of that game. the thing with the Netherlands is for years now you've thought well they should be with a chance of winning something and they just fall short he's going to hurt me no but it's true he's hurting me we're in LA the sun is shining right he's just winning look keep it light oh my god well he's our guest I'm just saying ok I'll take it I'll take it it must be frustrating for you no I totally agree that they haven't achieved more with the talent that you have.

20:13Yeah, no, definitely. Look, we always have talents. Why, you know, why we, the key thing is why we have so much talent is because we're a small country. We need that. It's an, it's, we cannot make a choice like some other countries can say like, oh, don't worry, it will come. We don't have that opportunity. We have 18 million people in our country, so we have to deliver really quickly and we have to work on it. That's why almost a whole nation is working on that, getting talents, talents, talents. But one of the key things is like you said, we come very close, but sometimes we hold on to always playing the beautiful football.

20:45And sometimes you've got to be a bad boy. And you just got to make sure it's about winning. It's not always about playing the most beautiful game. Sometimes, some games, you play beautiful. But some games, you have to be the bad boy. And do you think Koeman is a manager who believes that? Because actually, when he goes to a back five, that is him saying, OK, forget the beautiful game. We're just going to sit in and defend this. Yeah, but he does that. And Koeman, you know, he was a defender himself. And he knows sometimes, you understand, he knows the weaknesses in making his team weaker. I know he's going to look back at that game and think like, I let my team sit too deep.

21:25As a team, you should never allow your opponent to get closer to your box for whatever reason they try to get to you. Don't let them get close. Because as soon as they get close, you're making them stronger. I like the way that Japan set up in that they were kind of, they were zonal and then they all sort of went man to man. So it felt like every time Holland were looking to find space, it was never there because there was always someone on them. And they were so disciplined in doing that. And I thought it was an interesting system because I've not really, I don't think I've particularly seen that before.

22:00No, no. But you know what the thing is in Holland? One of the key things, what I was also, when I saw the game kick off, you have Grafenberg. He's like the point, almost the point back. They have the young next to him, right? And the young is kind of like our main, you understand, the main guy because he's the most experienced one, comes from Barcelona, has everything with him. So they feel like he needs to dictate the tempo. Okay, but Gravenberg is a great player, you know, on the ball, very good. But then you got Reinders. He needs to be the guy that's on the run. But at the end of the season, when it came to City season, he wasn't playing anymore.

22:31So that could have also have a little bit of feeling. I don't want to say that he was calling. Because he had such a great start. Such a great start. He lost a little bit of that and that doesn't mean that he can't get it back But we hope he gets it back right on time because sometimes having a break could be a rest But sometimes you know is the rhythm every player needs a rhythm and I hope he is Getting back to that rhythm because if not, you know It's maybe too late because you don't have so many games. What was really interesting today is that the the Japanese team had a lot of players from the Dutch league but none of the starting eleven in the Netherlands team played in the Eredivisie but I think what how many eight of the eleven starting lineup were from the Premier League is that is that worrying for the league in general?

23:16No I think I think it's always gonna be like that you know the development in the league the only thing that I worry about look my background is Ajax I was 10 years old when I joined them and I I left when I was 22. So I went through the whole system. So me talking about that is that when I watch them sometimes, I feel like stick to what you're good at. What you're good at is developing talents and making sure that they get to a certain level and then you push them through. And then progress. You've got to be careful. You've got to mix it with outside and local boys. But if you only pick outside, it's going to be difficult because then you mess up your culture.

23:53Have you seen the video of Van Dijk? but he so he heads it and then he just watches it and it's quite slow actually he just watches it all the way in it's really good no it's good it's a good header it's a great header yeah he guides it in yeah he knows what he wants and I saw the header and also I was happy because you know our country try to pick on him you understand because they want him to do more and show more and do like at Liverpool he has a different job at Liverpool it's just do your job defend and play the game right in Holland they almost want him to be an architect You understand?

24:26From the back and be like, deliver the ball left, right, play, dribble in. It's too much sometimes. But he is capable of doing that from time to time. But I know what you mean. Like the expectation on him is massive. Yeah, but sometimes, you know, I know he's a captain and you can lean on him, but you also have to remember, let him do the job. I prefer Van Dijk. Do the defensive job and give the ball to someone else. And then you just do your job well. Stay active, stay focused and keep everybody aware of it. But if he starts doing other things, you've got to be careful. He might miss out on the other stuff that he has to do.

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