Over the last few years Joe Hart has been head and shoulders (pun intended) over the competition both for club and country. However today he finds himself having missed three consecutive match for Manchester City and his England position under question. An evident decline in form has left the goalkeeper feeling somewhat isolated in recent weeks but I want to question how he has got to this stage, both mentally and physically and where he goes from here.
Mentally
Joe Hart truly emerged on the scene during his loan spell at Birmingham, getting placed in the PFA Team of the Season before breaking through into the Manchester City first team. In the 2010-2011 season he was, perhaps controversially, picked ahead of Shay Given, although the gamble paid off as Hart went on to collect the Player of the Season award whilst Given moved to Aston Villa in search of first team football. In the same season he also broke into the international team. After the retirement of David James a battle for the number one jersey broke out, with Hart emerging victorious. Since then his position in the England team has never been questioned. Until now.
So why this change? The simple answer lies in the lack of competition. Since that season, three years ago, he has never been challenged and therefore has slipped into the mindset that he is untouchable. Sadly this is not the case. No one has a permanent place on a football pitch, and this fact is heavily emphasised by the Iker Casillas saga at Real Madrid. Last season he played under twenty league games for the first time in his senior career and Joe Hart should be vary wary of a similar issue at City if he does not eradicate his current mindset. The shattering of this subconscious feeling of being untouchable will have been a kick-in-the-teeth for Hart, and mentally he needs to eradicate this thought quickly, and realise that to maintain his spot a constant high level of concentration and determination is required.
In blooding Pantilimon, Pellegrini is doing the right thing for Hart. His complacency has led to a decline is his concentration levels during games for both club and country and this has led to a catalogue of errors over the last year or so. With the international friendlies fast approaching, it is vital that Hodgson does the same, giving Fraser Forster and John Ruddy a chance in goal, as if it comes around to the World Cup and Hart is still in this unreliable form, another keeper will be required. However, hopefully by that point, Hart will have adapted to the situation and will regain his composure through competition with Pantilimon,
In blooding Pantilimon, Pellegrini is doing the right thing for Hart. His complacency has led to a decline is his concentration levels during games for both club and country and this has led to a catalogue of errors over the last year or so. With the international friendlies fast approaching, it is vital that Hodgson does the same, giving Fraser Forster and John Ruddy a chance in goal, as if it comes around to the World Cup and Hart is still in this unreliable form, another keeper will be required. However, hopefully by that point, Hart will have adapted to the situation and will regain his composure through competition with Pantilimon,
Physically
On paper, Joe Hart has been the best goalkeeper in the Premier League over the last three years, epitomised by his back-to-back Golden Glove award for most clean sheets. However, it is worth acknowledging that Manchester City have conceded the fewest goals in each of the last three seasons so a lot of credit for this has to go to the defence as well as the goalkeeper.
By studying the statistics, it is all too obvious that Joe Hart is a player in declining form. This season alone he has made 3 errors leading to goals off the back of 6 errors last year. Compare this with the 1 error over the three seasons before last and you see an issue. The other main issue in studying his decline is a huge decrease in his save percentage. In both the 2010-11 campaign and the 2011-12 campaign his save percentage was 77%, however last year this tumbled to 69%, dropping him out of the top ten keepers in terms of save percentage for the first time in his career. This season the decline has continued, currently lying at a lowly 63%. This is perhaps a reflection of the lapse in concentration as a result of mental complacency mentioned earlier. The most surprising statistic of all is that Hart claimed only 87% of aerial balls last season. This does not sound particularly poor until you compare it with David de Gea, a keeper who was constantly hounded in the press for his lack of physical presence and general weakness in the air, who claimed 88%. Make of that what you will.
It is also worth comparing Hart to the other three keepers that played every minute of every game for their team last season, Asmir Begovic, Jussi Jaaskelainen and Simon Mignolet to see how they faired in comparison. In terms of clean sheets Hart was way out in front on 18 whilst Begovic has 12 and the other two had 11, however this can be attributed largely to the defence rather than the goalkeeper. A more interesting statistic is that Hart runs out with the lowest save percentage at 69%. Begovic has 70% with Mignolet on 72% and Jaaskelainen on 76%. It is worth noting that Hart would have had the highest percentage if his statistics from any other season were used. This would also have been the case in regards to errors leading to goals but instead, Hart once again finished bottom with 6. Begovic and Jaaskelainen both made 5 whilst Mignolet made only 2. The purpose of these comparisons is to emphasise that Manchester City's strong defensive record has successfully hidden Hart's decline and it is only in deeper study that you realise the extend of his decline over the last year.
So What Next?
For me, Hart needs to get himself out of the spotlight. He has received plenty of scrutiny and negative press in the last few months and needs to stay out of the public eye for a while. Giving Pantilimon a run in goal and experimenting with keepers internationally should help take the attention away from Hart allowing him to regain focus. By keeping his head down and working hard in training he will regain both a physical and mental sharpness so that when he does get back into the starting eleven he will have less issues remaining there.
The reality is that, on his day Joe Hart is arguably the best goalkeeper in the Premier League, but it hasn't been his day for a while. This will all be a learning curve for him and will only benefit him in the long term. When he returns we will see a more mature goalkeeper, one who has gained experience from his errors and one than can potentially go down as a footballing legend but in order for him to do this he has to grit his teeth and come back fighting.
By studying the statistics, it is all too obvious that Joe Hart is a player in declining form. This season alone he has made 3 errors leading to goals off the back of 6 errors last year. Compare this with the 1 error over the three seasons before last and you see an issue. The other main issue in studying his decline is a huge decrease in his save percentage. In both the 2010-11 campaign and the 2011-12 campaign his save percentage was 77%, however last year this tumbled to 69%, dropping him out of the top ten keepers in terms of save percentage for the first time in his career. This season the decline has continued, currently lying at a lowly 63%. This is perhaps a reflection of the lapse in concentration as a result of mental complacency mentioned earlier. The most surprising statistic of all is that Hart claimed only 87% of aerial balls last season. This does not sound particularly poor until you compare it with David de Gea, a keeper who was constantly hounded in the press for his lack of physical presence and general weakness in the air, who claimed 88%. Make of that what you will.
It is also worth comparing Hart to the other three keepers that played every minute of every game for their team last season, Asmir Begovic, Jussi Jaaskelainen and Simon Mignolet to see how they faired in comparison. In terms of clean sheets Hart was way out in front on 18 whilst Begovic has 12 and the other two had 11, however this can be attributed largely to the defence rather than the goalkeeper. A more interesting statistic is that Hart runs out with the lowest save percentage at 69%. Begovic has 70% with Mignolet on 72% and Jaaskelainen on 76%. It is worth noting that Hart would have had the highest percentage if his statistics from any other season were used. This would also have been the case in regards to errors leading to goals but instead, Hart once again finished bottom with 6. Begovic and Jaaskelainen both made 5 whilst Mignolet made only 2. The purpose of these comparisons is to emphasise that Manchester City's strong defensive record has successfully hidden Hart's decline and it is only in deeper study that you realise the extend of his decline over the last year.So What Next?
For me, Hart needs to get himself out of the spotlight. He has received plenty of scrutiny and negative press in the last few months and needs to stay out of the public eye for a while. Giving Pantilimon a run in goal and experimenting with keepers internationally should help take the attention away from Hart allowing him to regain focus. By keeping his head down and working hard in training he will regain both a physical and mental sharpness so that when he does get back into the starting eleven he will have less issues remaining there.The reality is that, on his day Joe Hart is arguably the best goalkeeper in the Premier League, but it hasn't been his day for a while. This will all be a learning curve for him and will only benefit him in the long term. When he returns we will see a more mature goalkeeper, one who has gained experience from his errors and one than can potentially go down as a footballing legend but in order for him to do this he has to grit his teeth and come back fighting.
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