Claudio Bravo

[geoff clipp]

Otamendi and Mangala are the only two that aren't proficient in English.

I think the language thing has already been causing us defensive issues with those guys.

Not sure what level he was at when he arrived as his interviews were in French, but Mangala speaks excellent English now.

 

[eversince 76]

So lets asume Bravo comes in (seems like a serious enough rumor), and let's asume Bravo is brought in to be number one, who do we wanna sell: Hart or Caballero?

You can look at this transfer in two ways. Hart needs more time to get to grips with what Pep wants from his goallie and Hart is given time due to his status within the club. Caballero is nearing an age you want him to go and play regular and he is probably easier to move on. I might even go as far as swap Bravo for Caballero to solve Barca's problem for looking at a new number two.
Or ... Pep simply doesn't rate Hart, never has done so, and will move him on because he figures keeping Hart in a number two role eventually brings trouble in the squad due to the players' influence.

Imo as it is now, Bravo comes in, fights it out with Caballero and Hart is on his way. And to be honest, that was probably the last thing I would say about any changes I expected 3 months ago.

 

[01cravend]

Does anybody have the distribution stats for keepers around Europe?

Surely we can find someone who's roughly just as good except years ago, so that we don't have to splash another 20-40 million in a couple of years time when he's at the end of his playing life? (Rulli is nothing but a project at his stage, there are zero guarantees).

Distribution success of keepers that played more than 20 games last season:

1. Bravo - 86%
2. Trapp - 84%
3. Neuer - 83%
4. Reina - 82%
5. Buffon - 81%
6. Benaglio - 81%

No-one else over 80%...Only Trapp is under 30years old and he is unattainable.

 

[Marvin]

Sky reported this morning that Bravo had the highest pass completion % (around 85%) of any keeper in the top 5 leagues in Europe last season. Think this says it all, why we going after him...Hart was in the 44% range....Sad for Hart that the one area Pep looks for in his keeper's, just happens to be Hart's weakness...

Not seen the Sky coverage but those are telling stats. I thoughtJoe was quite comfortable with the ball at his feet. I used to watch him warm up in the penalty area and he always struck me as a good footballer so this has surprised me. I'll be sad if Joe goes, but it's good news if we have secured a quality replacement who knows what Guardiola wants. Goalkeeper is such a key position for a team that wants to build up possession.

 

[Phil1]

Not seen the Sky coverage but those are telling stats. I thoughtJoe was quite comfortable with the ball at his feet. I used to watch him warm up in the penalty area and he always struck me as a good footballer so this has surprised me. I'll be sad if Joe goes, but it's good news if we have secured a quality replacement who knows what Guardiola wants. Goalkeeper is such a key position for a team that wants to build up possession.

That's the thing Marv, in training and warming up Hart does always look a lot more comfortable on the ball. Sadly it never did translate into a match. This tells me it's more of a mental issue as anything else. He's not unique in that regard. I've heard a few stories about players who were deemed world beaters in training until they had to go out in front of 30/40/50 thousand fans and fell to pieces. I'm not saying Joe falls to pieces but he certainly reverts to launching balls once the whistle goes.

 

[ADegenerate]

Slightly off topic here but what's the deal with Joe having trouble diving left? Why does he have such an issue with it?

 

[dachoosen1]

Think joe simply panics and gets rid all the training in the world wont change that in match situations. Think thats why pep seem so disappointed with hart after the arsenal game. I believe he was doing everything right in training but when the pressure is on he panics and clears it.

 

[YaYa's Left Peg]

That's the thing Marv, in training and warming up Hart does always look a lot more comfortable on the ball. Sadly it never did translate into a match. This tells me it's more of a mental issue as anything else. He's not unique in that regard. I've heard a few stories about players who were deemed world beaters in training until they had to go out in front of 30/40/50 thousand fans and fell to pieces. I'm not saying Joe falls to pieces but he certainly reverts to launching balls once the whistle goes.

In which case Pep might be able to train it into him. If I was Hart, I would relish the thought of training under Pep for a year or two and acquiring the knowledge and confidence to add new capabilities that are so clearly needed in the modern game. He is still a relatively young man for a goalkeeper, so he wouldn't be losing much and potentially gaining loads.

 

[balotelli's back pocket]

Hart is gone. No way he is here by september.

 

[Jazzman]

When can we expect something official about this?