Bravo has had a poor first season. From what I've seen of him, this seems down to a lack of confidence compounding the existing problems within his game. However, it would also be foolish to suggest he's a bad goalkeeper.
His position is a bit of a rarity in that more than any other, mistakes are highlighted and cost the team. Perhaps more than any other position, lack of confidence affects the players in front of you. Lack of confidence breeds lack of confidence and affects decision making. Having had Joe in the team for so long we've seen this go both ways.
As has been rightly pointed out there could be/are a number of different reasons why this could be beyond his performances for City this year. Most importantly, it's his first year in England it takes time to adapt for everyone but a select few (Aguero, Kompany etc.).
There's no question he's been brought in to play a designated tactical role within the team. In my mind, he's ahead of Willy in this respect. However, he doesn't seem to have the inner confidence someone like Neuer has.
Bearing all this in mind, it seems stupid to write him off. Given time, man management, a few good performances we might well see a much needed boost to his confidence. It's also counter-intuitive to be linked with keepers like Jordan Pickford as a replacement. Besides being young and English, he seems to be the opposite of what Pep is looking for.
It seems to me that if he has the resolve to stay and fight for his place, he has the capacity to be the goalkeeper we need. Every goalkeeper we have will go through this to some extent it's inevitable. The important factor seems to be the level of goalkeeper we want behind the current form.
For me, it's a level above Bravo. More importantly, for Pep he's willing to have an unspectacular goalkeeper who has outfield abilities. So it at least makes sense to play him, take the rough with the smooth, and see if there is an improvement overall. If not, the tactics need tweaking.
