Goalkeeper Joe Hart was the central figure in Manchester City’s demoralising 1-3 home defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday. The English goalkeeper was at fault for two of the three goals City conceded on the debilitating night. Blaming the goalie for a defeat is an age-old game in football but the concerns about Hart’s form are real. Gone are the days of solidity between the sticks; he is more of a disaster waiting to happen these days. He had a hand in both the defeats City have suffered in the nascent EPL season. A goalkeeper is as good as his confidence and Hart’s is at its lowest ebb. He hasn’t become an egregious goalkeeper overnight. But the crisis of confidence can set off a damaging sequence of events. Hart looked a beaten man against Bayern. He didn’t inspire confidence in his defenders. From transforming an innocuous 25-yard shot from Franck Ribery into a goal to getting beaten at the near post for the German club’s third, whatever could go wrong went wrong for the City’s custodian. England will be fretting over Hart’s form because not long ago he was hailed as the solution to the country’s prolonged goalkeeping woes. No major event is complete for the nation that invented modern football without an amateurish goalkeeping error. Hart ensured that there was no embarrassment at Euro 2012. Within a year, though, calls are getting shriller to find a replacement for him in City. Consequently, England may also have to look for another option because no goalkeeper plays for his country without being a starter for his club. In truth, England never got a replacement for Peter Shilton. If the World Cup winner Gordon Banks was comparable with the best in the business, the super-fit Shilton was always reliable. But the last decade has been miserable for England. The German media highlighted Hart’s mistakes without forgetting to reopen the old goalkeeping wounds of England. City’s Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini is a worried man because his owners hired him to go all the way in Europe. If Hart continues to gift goals, the EPL itself will become a distant dream for Pellegrini. Success in football is built from the back even if the activity that secures a win happens at the other end. Defenders need reassurance from the last line of defence. England manager Roy Hodgson must be even more worried than Pellegrini.
