If you had to pick one man other than Roy Hodgson as the reason why England were knocked out of the Euros so early, a lot of people might point to Joe Hart.
The Manchester City goalkeeper, as good as he has been for his club and country in the past, had a fairly poor tournament, failing to stop Gareth Bale’s free-kick against Wales and massively at fault for Iceland’s second goal, suffering from ‘weak-wrist syndrome’ when attempting to push out Kolbeinn Sigthorsson’s saveable shot.
One man who had a lot to say about the Manchester City man was Fabien Barthez, interviewed in France Football about goalkeeping during the Euros, and asked if he could explain why Hart committed such mistakes despite his ability.
He said: “His diving technique isn’t good. It’s too horizontal, not aggressive enough. He messes up because he doesn’t attack the ball’s path, meaning his hands are then pushed back by the impact with the ball. Hart is two levels below Neuer, Courtois and Lloris.
“He isn’t flexible and doesn’t come out. When he runs, it’s just ‘thud, thud, thud’. It’s heavy. I don’t understand the English culture around the position. They need huge guys, but they’re just walls that don’t come out. Clubs and the FA need to change their philosophy in developing goalkeepers.”
This sounds a lot like someone who was heavily criticised in England for his lack of height, despite being a very good, albeit eccentric, goalkeeper (for France, at least), yet he makes some very interesting points.
It’ll be interesting to see who the next England manager goes for, but our money is on Hart remaining as number one, at least for the next couple of years.
