da supremo： Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has had a tough start to the Premier League season but it’s safe to say the majority of us didn’t see what was to come when Pep stepped into the Etihad hot seat.
da pinnacle： The Shrewsbury-born shot-stopper was ruthlessly axed by the new manager and was shipped out to Italy. Goalkeeping is a profession where familiarity and stability are two of the most important components in your game. Lose those and you will begin to struggle – just ask Joe Hart.
A dodgy Euro 2016 campaign followed by Pep’s appointment has left the former Birmingham City loanee bottom of the pile at his parent club. And he didn’t get off to the best of starts at Torino either.
Whilst new City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was doing everything he could to get Manchester United back in the game at Old Trafford, Hart was making blunders at his new club – on his debut.
His fumble from a corner kick allowed little-known defender Andrea Masiello to fire home an equaliser. A late spot-kick finished the story, which gave Atalanta all three points on Hart’s Serie A bow.
The England international’s performance was an eclipse of perhaps everything we’ve come to expect after a tough few months between the sticks. He’s managed to play on at both Manchester City and England without much challenge because, quite simply, he’s Joe Hart. But his downfalls have been truly revealed in the past couple of months and it’s left some supporters wondering how he got away with it for so long.
But his downfalls have been truly revealed in the past couple of months and it’s left some supporters wondering how he got away with it for so long.
Now, every time he kicks the ball for Torino we’ll know about it. We’ll know every time he makes a mistake or pulls off a save that ‘could see him integrated back into Pep Guardiola’s squad next season.’
It’s a season where Hart will be under the spotlight constantly and whilst some might deem it unfair to scrutinise his every move with such precision is unfair, it’s easy to do so for a player who has really suffered in form.
There will be that undoubted ‘settling-in period’ where the Torino fans will sing his name week in, week out, regardless of what happens on the pitch. But come Christmas, they will expect the Englishman to know the strengths and weaknesses of the defenders in front of him and how he must perform if the team are to do well.
He has that time to build up the rapport on the training pitch and familiarise himself with his colleagues but he needs to get to work quickly. This spell in Italy isn’t a break for Hart, it’s a time where he needs to get his career back on track.
He’s had the highs of silverware, success and invincibility. Now he needs to tough it out and show why he’s England’s number one. If he doesn’t, that title may slip away as well.
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