Gavin Bazunu: The mental fortitude required to deal with being a top-level goalkeeper

Currently, Bazunu's Southampton lie 10th in the table but only second from bottom Rotherham United have conceded more goals after 11 games.

'FIGHTING FOR MY PLACE': Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu during a Republic of Ireland press conference at FAI Headquarters. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

In the days after Southampton’s 5-0 hammering against Sunderland, a popular Saints fanzine posted an article titled ‘It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu.’ And unfortunately for the young Irish goalkeeper, it wasn’t for positive reasons.

Following relegation in his first season at the club – they finished bottom of the Premier League – the English south coast club failed to make the strong start to the season on their return to the championship that their supporters had hoped for.

Currently, they lie 10th in the table but only second from bottom Rotherham United have conceded more goals after 11 games.

Of course, the blame for that should not fall solely on the goalkeeper and although Bazunu accepts that often comes with the territory, his focus – as ever – is just on improving each day.

“It can be difficult because of the reach of social media these days, sometimes it’s impossible to stay away from it,” said Bazunu.

“You don’t want to have a complete blackout because then you never learn to take it on and be able to almost block it out.

“You have people around you and I think young players now have to work, not just on your technique and your tactics, it’s the mental side of the game that’s a massive part if a player is performing consistently at a high level.

“Every player you see out here performing at a high level has different mental tactics and mental fortitude to work against blocking those things out.

“Finding that balance is a massive part of it because at the end of the day we’re footballers but we’re all human beings and you have to be able to live your life outside of football.

“I do have someone I work with both in and outside of the club and a lot of people around me in my circle who I listen to a lot and they are the ones who keep me strong.

“It’s part of the game. I’m 21 years old but I’ve been around the game a long time.

“As a goalkeeper especially, the scrutiny is so heavy at the top level and for me, I just listen to the people who I know are going to make me better.

“There’s been a lot of changes at Southampton and the last week of games have been a lot more solid than the couple of weeks before and it looks like we are starting to get together as a team.

“But like I said for a long time, every time I step on the pitch, I’m fighting for my place, whether that’s for my club or my country.

“Never sitting anywhere secure of any position, I know every day I feel like I am fighting for my place.” 

With 18 Republic of Ireland senior caps to his name, along with over 100 appearances at club level, the former Shamrock Rovers shot-stopper is quickly transforming into one of the more experienced figures in the Irish set-up.

It’s a role the 21-year-old believes he and others in the squad need to embrace, particularly as Ireland prepare for a crunch double header against Greece on Friday and Gibraltar on Monday as they look to keep their slim hopes of reaching Euro 2024 alive.

“It’s been mentioned in the group that we have a lot of the senior players who are not in the squad so it’s time for a lot of the younger lads, you know we call them young lads but a lot of us have a lot of experience playing at international and club level, so it’s time for us to step up and take that role,” he added.

“There has never been a sense of anyone working off their own hymn sheet, we’ve always been together as a team and we’ve always been a really strong group.

“Every player on the pitch, every player on the bench, every player in the squad has always been working in the same direction.

“I think we have a great squad and like I said we’ve been called young players with a lot of potential, but I think it’s now time for us to step up as a group and really show how good we are as players and to build this really good culture within the squad and within the team and start putting in high class performances and getting results.”