Great Teams Need Great Goalkeepers. Joe Hart can Be Great.

Take a look at the winning teams from recent Premier League years. Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal. All had reliable, trustworthy, established and confident goalkeepers. United had Schmeichel and now have Van Der Sar, Chelsea had, and still have Petr Cech when they won consecutive Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006, and Arsenal had Jens Lehmann in their "Invincibles" team of 2004. Who was in goal in 1966 when England won the World Cup for the first and so far only (and possibly last) time? Gordon Banks - elected in a poll by the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History Statistics) as the second best goalkeeper of the 20th Century.

 

Joe Hart is showing all of the qualities to become a top quality goalkeeper - on the same, and with his potential, possibly higher level as the goalkeepers listed above. His confidence brings so much to his game as well as others around him. He has bravery - to come out and put his body on the line for the good of the team. He has a great personality - one which shows his love of playing football - something which is rarely seen in modern football, with pressure often getting to players. And most importantly, he is reliable. His defenders know that he can catch the ball from crosses with conviction, and his reactions are second to none.

This can only mean good things for his team-mates. His defenders know how good he is, which gives them the confidence to push further forward, which, in turn, makes the midfielders push further forward, which helps to pressurise the opposition higher up the pitch. The defenders know that they can trust Hart. He lifts pressure off of his team-mates, which then helps them to play with more freedom.
Before Hart, the players couldn't do that. David James was known for his great reactions, but unfortunately, his erratic behaviour and often poor decision making too. This meant the players were always cautious and worried that a mistake could happen at any time, and they simply couldn't trust him.

The good thing is, that not only do the players trust Hart, but the manager, Capello, does as well.

"Roberto Mancini has chosen him for Manchester City and I have chosen him for the England team. He improved a lot last year when he played at Birmingham. That was really important. The two keepers we had who stayed with us [including Ben Foster] are in really good form."

England have struggled with goalkeepers for a while, with the last consistently good one in David Seaman. Have England found a long term successor? Is he a player who has the confidence and the right amount of arrogance to handle the pressure of being England Number One? Yes. And he's only 23.

Rooney Scandal

On the Birth of his son - 2 November 2009:

Now I have someone to look after and I just want to be with Kai and Coleen as much as possible. Becoming a dad means you have to be a role model for your son and be someone he can look up to.

A few days later, Coleen Rooney said:

I'm hoping he will grow up to have Wayne's temperament.

Little did she know that only a few months earlier, her husband had been cheating on her, if we are to believe the newspapers have reported.
It's a sad situation for many. His wife, his fans, Manchester United and probably himself. He will be ashamed of what he reportedly did and will regret it enormously. The revelations could destroy not only his marriage to Coleen, who he met when both were still in school, but his career.

Taunts that he looks like Disney character Shrek, will be much worse to say the least, and multi-million pound sponsor-ship deals could be thrown out of the window as he has failed to uphold a family-man image and reputation of which the deals require.

His Manchester United manager will not be pleased either. Sir Alex has spent a lot of time and effort trying to drill into his young players lessons on the need for discipline, on and off the pitch. In addition, Ferguson has always supported Rooney when he has been going through rough patches in his career, after all, he is United's star striker, but it will take a lot of arduous talks with his manager, known for his bad temper and hot head to gain the Scots forgivness and apologise.

You may say that it is his personal life, and people shouldn't be poking around in it, but surely he musn't have thought that with the media as it is and newspapers always hungry for an "Exclusive" report, he could get away with it? And the girl? He couldn't have thought (and/or hoped) that she would stay quiet about it, when she could easily sell her story.

I really liked Rooney - as a player, and although I hope the stories aren't true, I know that they most probably are. Unfortunatley after this, you can't help but lose a lot of respect for him - as a person.

Have Manchester United already found a Scholes replacement?

Paul Scholes has been a fantastic servant to Manchester United since his debut in 1994. He has played a big part in United's success but taken little of the limelight, however, it is only recently that United fan's have wondered who will replace him when he has gone. At 35, he isn't getting any younger - although his performances suggest he is getting better, but when he does finally call it a day, you would think, Sir Alex Ferguson, or whoever the United manager is at the time, will have to fork out millions of pounds to find a replacement for the golden oldy. But I think the replacement is already at the club.

Since we bought Wayne Rooney in 2004, I always wondered how well he could play if he played a little deeper - in the position just ahead of the midfielders. There is no doubt that he has the ability - he has the ability to play anywhere. He runs and runs, chases and chases, he tracks back when he loses possession and is all over the pitch, helping out all of his team mates. He is a very self-less player. But he loves to score goals, and I have wondered, during his time at Manchester United, what he would play like - and how well he would play in the position that Paul Scholes used to occupy - the central attacking midfield position.

We never really found out until Friday night when he played in a similar position against Bulgaria. He played magnificently, playing a big part in all four goals that England scored, whilst directly assisting three. His cross field balls reminded me of Scholes, and his vision was astonishing - the return chip over the defenders for Ashley Cole during the build up for the first goal was an example of this.

England at times were lacking in spark, and, although comfortable in  possession, couldn't create anything - cue Rooney. Dawson and Jagielka passed it to each-other in their own half and whilst the attackers waited for a long ball, Rooney came rushing back, took the ball and found a team mate with an exquisite pass. He should have been on the end of it, yet he was the one delivering it. Thats what he can do. His decision making for the assists was perfection - choosing Defoe over Walcott in a three on three situation.

In general, Rooney tore the Bulgarians to shreads with his quick thinking, perfect passing, and stunning vision. He would be a much better goalscorer for England if he had a similar player to him or a good crosser of the ball in the wings to cross onto his head or into his feet - like he has at Manchester United with Valencia, Nani and Giggs.

Rooney can be a goalscorer with the right service, however he can also be a creator as he proved on Friday. I would like to see more of Rooney in that position, because maybe, just maybe, he could turn into the Scholes replacement that Manchester United fans have been looking for.