Vorm's rain game

Michel Vorm gave us an insight into the mental preparation required from a goalkeeper in the saturated conditions he faced at Southampton on Sunday.

Rain teamed down over the weekend on the south-coast and throughout our Premier League clash at St Mary's.

The soaked playing surface is always a test of a goalkeeper's technique as efforts at goal with a wet ball zip off the pitch - one handling error in the conditions and a striker is usually there for a tap in.

Michel was tested four times from distance - twice by Manolo Gabbiadini and once each from James Ward-Prowse and Mario Lemina - and was 'hand perfect', taking all shots in cleanly and letting nothing squirm out of his grasp. In the end, he was only beaten when Davinson Sanchez unfortunately slid Ryan Bertrand's cross into his own goal. Harry Kane's header secured a 1-1 draw in a real scrap.

It was the 34-year-old's first appearance in the Premier League this season and the 100th of his career after 89 for Swansea before joining us in July, 2014.

Disappointing not to get the 3 points but happy to have made my 100th @premierleague appearance 👍🏽 #COYS pic.twitter.com/wiRtfz9wv6

— Michel Vorm (@Vorm_Official) 21 January 2018

"We knew all about the conditions during the warm-up," said Michel, making his fifth appearance in all competitions this term and 37th for Spurs. "We'd already tested the surface and how the ball was going to react in front of me.

"A lot of work is done in the warm-up, that’s where you get your mind right.

"Toni Jimenez (goalkeeping coach) and myself anticipated the situations I might face but during the game the pitch is getting worse and worse and you need to concentrate and hope it’s true.

"Now, with the goalkeeper gloves, if it’s wet, it’s alright. I was confident. I had a few catches in the first half and had a good feeling.

"It’s not easy though and that’s why Southampton tried to shoot because they knew it’s tough for the goalkeeper. It’s tough because you don’t want to give a rebound back and you have to secure the ball. I thought it went well, it was just a shame we couldn't find a winner."