Manchester City’s Achilles heel has been consistently poor goalkeeping this season… so how does Pep Guardiola solve it?
Football Whispers recap the trials and tribulations of Claudio Bravo and Willy Caballero... as well as forgotten man Joe Hart
WHEN PEP Guardiola was appointed as Manuel Pellegrini’s successor it’s fair to say that Manchester City were hoping for more than lying in fourth place.
Not just fourth place, but 14 points off the top spot and out of the Champions League in early April.
City have played some sublime football at times this season under their new manager. But a number of disappointing performances have blighted their season — particularly between the sticks.
Our friends at run the rule over City’s goalkeeping department...
Eyebrows were raised when Guardiola sent Joe Hart on loan to Torino following the signing of former Barcelona keeper Claudio Bravo.
That decision has since been made to look like a huge mistake by the Spanish boss.
Bravo’s calamitous displays led to him losing his starting berth while Willy Caballero’s error in his side’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday night gifted Eden Hazard the opening goal.
The first high profile error committed by Bravo came during City’s Champions League group game against Barcelona at the Camp Nou.
That came after he had endured a far-from-convincing debut in the 2-1 derby win over Manchester United.
Having gifted the ball to Luis Suarez, the Chilean proceeded to try and atone for his error by saving Suarez’ shot outside the area, promptly being sent off.
The Catalan side went on to put three more past Caballero.
And the Etihad faithful didn’t have long to wait until they got to witness a Bravo mistake on home soil, when the 33-year-old flapped at Marten De Roon’s header in the 91st minute of their game against Middlesbrough, costing the hosts two valuable points.
Guardiola eventually dropped Bravo after a run of nine games that saw him concede 16 goals from 24 shots on target.
During that sequence City lost four and dropped 14 points from a possible 27 with Bravo culpable for some of those defeats.
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He was easily beaten for the first two of Chelsea’s goals in their 3-1 defeat at home to the leaders in December. While he also put up little resistance for three of Everton’s strikes during their 4-0 rout at Goodison Park a month later.
For a time Bravo’s replacement Caballero had looked to have shored up Pep’s defence. His inclusion led to a run of four victories on the bounce with just one goal conceded - followed by a clean sheet in the 0-0 draw with Stoke City last month.
But the Argentine has proven to be increasingly error prone in recent weeks.
Prior to his weak attempt to save Hazard’s effort on Wednesday, Caballero gave the ball away in the build up to Monaco’s first goal in City’s Champions League first leg tie.
He was also slow to get across to prevent Shkodran Mustafi’s equaliser for Arsenal on Sunday.
If these goals hadn’t been scored Manchester City would have six extra points and currently sit third, one point behind Tottenham Hotspur and just four points shy of leaders Chelsea.
They might even be preparing for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, having lost out to Monaco on away goals.
Bravo was at fault for six goals that led to City dropping three points.
Although Caballero has been responsible for just two, the club’s Champions League participation next season hangs in the balance as a result.
Would things have been different had Joe Hart been in goal rather than Bravo or Caballero?
England’s number one has never endured this sort of scrutiny and has proven himself to be a good shot stopper in the past. Bravo, on the other hand, has shipped 16 goals from just 24 shots face.
However, Hart hasn’t been without fault since joining Torino on loan. During the 2-2 draw with Inter Milan the 29-year-old was at fault for both of the Nerazzurri’s goals.
There were also blunders leading to goals in 2-1 defeats to Atalanta, on his debut, and Inter.
The decision facing Guardiola for next season is simple: bring Hart back to the Etihad or sign a world-class replacement for Bravo and Caballero.