“I said to him in the first moment – if he stays he is going to improve.”
Those were Pep Guardiola’s words on Joe Hart days before a loan move to Torino was agreed for the England goalkeeper, where the Manchester City loanee has now kept two clean sheets in five games and is turning into a fan favourite.
As was made very clear by the signing of Claudio Bravo and the Spanish manager’s insistence to start WIlly Caballero ahead of Hart at the beginning of the season, a goalkeeper capable of passing is of utmost importance to his philosophy, and this isn’t the first time he’s had these problems.
When he first became Barcelona’s manager, Guardiola had to teach Victor Valdes how to play with the ball at his feet, as was explained by Edmilson, interviewed by Mundo Deportivo on Wednesday.
He said: “Back in my day, Victor Valdes didn’t like it when we passed the ball back to him, but then Guardiola came, he changed a lot and Victor improved playing with the ball at his feet by nearly 100%.”
The Spanish goalkeeper, now at Middlesbrough after a rather disappointing and frustrating spell at Manchester United, then became the epitome of the sweeper keeper until a bad knee injury cut his Barcelona career short.
If Guardiola managed to change Victor Valdes that much, who’s to say he wouldn’t have done the same with Joe Hart?
Then again, had the Manchester City goalkeeper stayed, game time would have been an issue, something he is getting plenty of on loan in Serie A.
