After Joe Hart spent the second game in a row on the bench, he is expected to leave. If the England’s number 1 does not fit into his system, then what exactly is he expecting?
For the answer, we must go back in time, namely five years ago. In December 2011, Guardiola‘s Barcelona traveled to the Bernabeu in the knowledge that if they lose, Real Madrid will be on top of the table ahead with 6 points.
A lot was at stake and of Barcelona and began disastrously. Victor Valdes miserably assists Di Maria just 20 meters in front of the net, the ball rebounded to Karim Benzema and he took care of a 1-0 lead for Real after 22 seconds.
It was a huge mistake from Valdes, but afterward, when he got the ball from his teammates, rather than to kick it away he calmly passed it on. He did exactly what Guardiola wanted from him, and the match ended with 3-1 victory for Barcelona.
Guardiola after the game praised Valdes for having kept his cool and played further exactly what was expected from him. Play of Spain coach is based on accurate short passes, which also expected from the goalkeeper. This philosophy was further preferred at Bayern Munich. Victor Valdes and Manuel Neuer had the best statistics in accurate short passes of all goalkeepers in every season in the era of Guardiola. Manuel Neuer was in 2013/2014 season best in the statistics of 88.3% accurate passes even so good that it has overcome this only 10 players.
Neuer once in an interview explained that Guardiola is not looking at the team as 10 players + 1 goalkeeper but as a compact team of all 11 players. German goalkeeper further highlighted the defensive duties which were expected from him including rushing from the line in order to extinguish the potential danger.
Joe Hart does not have that kind of statistics. In comparison, Hart had over the last 3 seasons only 562 successful short passes, while Neuer 2077. It can be argued that it is a result of Pellegrini playing style, but on closer inspection, it is even worse. Of the 13 goalies who in last season of Champions League played 7 times or more, Hart had the lowest accuracy of passes on his own half (74.7%). The highest accuracy had obviously Manuel Neuer (92.9%), but also the keeper of Gent Matz Sels, who is in the statistics one position higher than Hart had a much higher accuracy (84.7%).
Who then will be for Guardiola’s number 1? Willy Caballero unlikely and now he serves only as a short-term replacement. Most likely it will be goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who is still not a permanent number 1 in Barcelona. New Manchester City manager will seek to implement the philosophy of his game as soon as possible with his selected players. History has shown that there is no place for compromise.
source: skysports.com, foto: wikimedia.org