Just looking at the latest Joe Hart clangers and the lack of English keepers in the Premier League and you have to wonder why what was once a stronghold of the English game is in such a sorry state at present. That said, some of the foreign keepers in our league are suspect as well, as Julio Cesar proved last season. When I think back to how such a great keeper as Phil Parkes rarely got a look-in for England due to Shilton and Clemence yet he'd have been out on his own nowadays. I think for sheer consistency, Petr Cech has been the top PL keeper for years now, others have had good spells but he has been one of the main reasons Chelsea have won trophies even when not at their best. What do you think?...
Hart is a bad goalie, he wouldnt even make the squad in the 80s or 90s and dont be a smart arse and say he would have been too young then. He doesnt have much to do but he drops an awful lot of clangers consistently over many, many months. He doesnt deserver to start but will only get dropped if he gets an injury and someone else performs better.
Who would you have in goal for England Flyer? There are no stand outs now as Sooper says. I haven't got the faintest idea.
Most English keepers seem to be nothing other than shot stoppers at best. The idea of controlling every thing that happens within their penalty area like Oliver Kahn or Peter Schmeichel used to do is foreign to their make up.
As a non-English man, I agree with this. With national teams,it is a generational thing. Some generations you may have 4/5 good keepers and the same for centre halves. Other generations, you may get 4/5 great midfielders and some poor goalkeepers. It's swings and roundabouts. I don't think Hart is a poor keeper. He is just in bad form at the moment. A few good games and he may get his confidence back and return to the very decent keeper we know he is.
I think the truth is that Hart has an awful lot of promise, but is in the middle of his "I'm believing all my own press" phase in which he's gotten far too cocky and is forgetting a number of the fundamentals that got him to where he is. He is still relatively young for a 'top' keeper, so I'm prepared to hold back judgement for perhaps another five years. In the meantime he needs to get a goalkeeping coach that kicks him hard in the nuts from time to time... and change his shampoo.
At the moment I would say Cech and Lloris are streets ahead of any other keeper in the league and Hart wouldn't make the top 5.
Was thinking along the same lines after Hart's latest debacle. It is a real worry for England that when Hart is going through a rough patch you don't have a natural rival for the spot. Ruddy, Foster and Forster, the first two have never convinced me and Forster is playing in a very poor league. Even though he has looked very impressive in the CL I'm afraid that isn't enough for an England #1, he needs to get to the PL asap and perform there before being considered. Hart is an outstanding goalkeeper, this is only a rough patch as I said, he will still be the #1 for anywhere between 5-10 years imo. The worry though, right now he doesn't have any competition, either at club or international level. And that is the real worry, without competition there won't be any progress.
Even Hugo has his moments? Hugo Lloris drops a clanger for France and puts team in danger of Belarus defeat Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris, usually cool-headed between the sticks, made two massive errors for France in their World Cup qualifier against Belarus http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/hugo-lloris-drops-clanger-france-2265894 please log in to view this image
It seems he goes through spells in the PL where he can be imperious yet, step up a level to Champions League or Internationals, and the errors appear. I was right behind his goal at the England v Scotland game and couldn't believe it when he was caught out for their first goal, it was just very poor keeping. Just one more error in next week's two matches could scupper our qualification, very worrying for Woy...
Look how many keepers have gone the same way though, Green, Kirkland and Richard Wright for other examples off the top of my head. All touted and generally accepted as being a future England great when younger and then seemed to go backwards.
Its not a dip in form, its a fundamental problem like with Rob Green is known for making mistakes, much more than any other goalie. dont forget, he also gets much less work than other goalies but makes a lot more mistakes. Its not like hes dealing with 10+ shots on target every game. Hes only dealing with a couple of shots per game yet still managing to drop a clanger every month. Hed not even make the squad if he played for us.
I think that's taking it to the extreme. Hart's been making lots of mistakes recently but he hasn't somehow become a Ch. standard keeper all of a sudden. Whatever the quality of Hart and the other keepers, Hodgson should have given them so more game time in certain friendlies - otherwise if Hart gets injured or suspended we're gonna have a completely inexperienced keeper wearing the no. 1 jersey. Since he's had CL experience against some big sides I opt for Forster.
