James Trafford's performances as the Burnley shotstopper have been nothing short of remarkable this season. His goalkeeping excellence has put Burnley in an excellent position to earn promotion back to the Premier League, but that might not quite be the most miraculous outcome of his heroics.
What started as a friendly wager with the owner of the club has turned into one of the most fascinating stretches a goalkeeper has gone on in recent memory. But what exactly was this wager?
The wager was with legendary NFL defensive powerhouse J.J. Watt who purchased a minority stake in the team in 2023, following his retirement from the NFL.
With James Trafford being a fan of NFL team side Cincinnati Bengals, he made a friendly banter-esque bet with Watt about coming out of retirement and helping out his favoured American Football team.
The last time Trafford conceded a goal for Burnley was on the 21st of December in a 2-1 victory over Watford. Since then, Trafford has played 12 league games and has not conceded a goal in any of these.
Whilst this is remarkable, it is important to look at this as an incredible team effort rather than solely an incredible individual performance from Trafford.
The reason it is integral to look at this from a team perspective is because the defensive effort from all players leads to limited shots at goal and even less shots on target for Trafford to deal with as a result.
In their most recent win, a comfortable 4-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday, the Owls managed 11 shots on goal and yet only managed to get two of them on target. In their 0-0 draw at Preston, the Clarets held their rivals to just five shots on goal and only one shot on target, showing how the defence as a whole neutralised Preston's attack.
That being said, Trafford does get involved frequently in Burnley's matches. In the aforementioned win over Sheffield Wednesday, he had 43 touches of the ball, showing his involvement within the play of the team. He also has five recoveries and one high claim.
In the goalless draw at Deepdale, he was slightly less productive but still involved, having three recoveries and more long ball attempts than anyone else on the pitch.
This shows that while the defensive effort is indeed top tier, Trafford does indeed hold his own and does his job exceptionally well at the back.
When Burnley were last in the Premier League, the England U21 international struggled with his distribution more so than his actual goalkeeping ability. Improving this element of his game will not only help him contribute to Burnley's promotion bid, but also impress Thomas Tuchel as he looks to secure the very open third goalkeeping spot in the England squad.
If he ends up on the successful side of his bet with J.J. Watt, it could be one of the most remarkable goalkeeping efforts in league football. This could be proof also that incentives can make athletes perform at their very best.
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