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Amid the fanfare surrounding David Beckham, another veteran provided a less conspicuous, yet equally impressive presence in Fabio Capello's England squad yesterday. Like Beckham, David James, inescapably linked to the Sven-Goran Eriksson era, was initially dropped by Steve McClaren. Like Beckham, he changed McClaren's mind on the basis of his subsequent club performances. But, unlike Beckham, James could convincingly argue to be in the absolute prime of a career that began with Watford when Bryan Robson was still England captain. "I spent years and years not being happy about football," James said. "It was a strive for perfection and the trouble with that is that ultimately you are going to fail. I'd be winning 3-1 and being in a strop because I'd conceded a penalty. It's not the right way to go. At the moment there's a lot of challenges and I'm enjoying it." Now 37, James regards a more philosophical acceptance of mistakes as a crucial ingredient in his form and return to the England squad. Much of his work with the Portsmouth goalkeeping coach, David Coles, surrounds his mental preparation and, away from the training ground, countless hours are spent talking about goalkeeping, thinking through different scenarios and visualising future games. This shift in emphasis came towards the end of his time at Liverpool in 1999, and has helped ensure the fulfilment of a talent which threatened to be undermined by a tendency towards making glaring mistakes. "In the last eight years I've been working on the psychological things," he said. "I find myself in the shower imagining every possible shot - refreshing myself more than anything else. It gives me a platform. "I'm more dedicated now than I was at Liverpool. My time at Liverpool was unsuccessful in many ways. Unfortunately for Liverpool fans, it was a major learning tool for me. I'm much more focused now in the right areas." Having Contrary to conventional wisdom, James also argues that England now have a strong group of young goalkeepers, although there is a belief that he can emulate the likes of Dino Zoff and Peter Shilton by playing in a 2010 World Cup within months of his 40th birthday. "That's the goal. If I didn't feel I could do it, I wouldn't be here," he said. James's journey is also impressive for his work away from football. In 2005, he visited Malawi to promote Aids awareness and is now a vocal campaigner for climate change. He is cautious, though, about footballers accepting the tag of 'role-models', following the launch last week of the FA's Respect campaign. "It's very important, but it's also very complex," he said. "We're having influence on kids who should be using their parents for role-models. Everything I do can't be right for everyone else." Yet when it comes to football exemplars, the conversation inevitably turns to England's man of the moment. "David Beckham is a role-model for anyone who wants to become a footballer, and he's a decent bloke," said James. "The fifth man to get 100 caps? Amazing. He's an all-time great." There are currently no comments for this entry. Please remember that the submission of any material to telegraph.co.uk is governed by our Your name: Your email address: Your site's URL: Please click the post button only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

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