Joe Hart: Hands in Gloves, Feet on the Ground

December 29th, 2009 | by: Daryl | Comments (7)

It’s no secret that England’s problem position is officially goalkeeper. Forget the left-sided problem. That was solved thanks to Fabio Capello’s brain and Steven Gerrard/Wayne Rooney’s willingness to interchange. But goalkeeper isn’t a position you can solve with tactical tinkering. You’ve either got a good keeper or you haven’t.

Right now the England gloves are very much up in the air. David James is probably #1 when he’s fit. But he’s very rarely fit these days. Robert Green seems decent but unspectacular, and has been leaking goals at West Ham. Ben Foster’s confidence took a whack while playing for Man Utd, and Paul Robinson will probably never live down 2008. Also, remember Scott Carson?

All of which has Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish talking up his 22 year old on-loan keeper Joe Hart’s chances of going to the World Cup.

Below are the highlights of Birmingham’s recentish 0-0 draw with Chelsea, featuring three excellent saves from Hart, especially the one from Lampard. You can see the Match of the Day teams’ analysis (and concentrated highlights) of Hart’s performance by going to the 11:30 mark in the video:

Here’s what McLeish told the BBC:

“I know that Fabio Capello and his staff like him. He already has an edge and his recent performances have certainly shown he can be a candidate. His form has been brilliant and let’s face it, he is looking a big, powerful bloke between those sticks right now. He has improved since he came to us. He probably had it there anyway but we have probably brought out the potential. Joe has as good a chance as anybody else to be in the England squad.”

Sounds encouraging. But my favourite thing about this is Hart’s reaction:

“You can only take it with a pinch of salt – one bad performance next week and I’ll be another young kid who needs to be replaced by someone with more experience,” he told BBC Sport. “If I do well then it will push me forward. I try not to think about it – if it comes, then great.”

Because he’s absolutely right. Hart has one England cap, and is in form right now. But sooner or later there’ll be a mistake and then there’ll be pressure. We don’t need another young England keeper overburdened with expectation, but it’s good to know we might have one who knows how to handle it.