Manchester City's Joe Hart is undoubtedly one of the finest goalkeepers in Europe at the moment, and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is the latest player to profess his admiration for the England's number one.
England kick of their Euro 2012 campaign against a France on Monday, and with a dazzling array of attacking talent throughout the French squad, Hart will need to be at his very best to ensure the likes of Ribery, Giroud, Benzema and Nasri don't get on the scoresheet.
Gerrard is often prone to overpraising his team-mates (Cole better than Messi, anyone?!), and in a recent interview, he was at it again, building up Hart into some kind of goalkeeping messiah. He enthused:
"You should have seen Joe Hart in training. He just makes world class saves, jumps back to his feet and prepares for the next shot like nothing has happened. The rest of us are just looking at him, like what the hell was that? But it’s just normal to him. Amazing".
Hmmm. I was always under the impression that a goalkeeper's job was to make saves, then jump back up and prepare for the next shot...? Doesn't every 'keeper do that?
To be fair, in this instance, Gerrard's enthusiasm is probably warranted. Having said that, as good as Hart is, lots of Liverpool fans still think Pepe Reina is the superior goalkeeper. Indeed, in a recent survey on this site (6000 participants), 56% of voting LFC fans picked Reina over Hart as the Premier League's best goalkeeper.
Obvious pro-LFC bias there, as Hart has been head and shoulders above Reina over the last year, and I doubt any objective LFC fan would disagree with that.
Jaimie Kanwar
England kick of their Euro 2012 campaign against a France on Monday, and with a dazzling array of attacking talent throughout the French squad, Hart will need to be at his very best to ensure the likes of Ribery, Giroud, Benzema and Nasri don't get on the scoresheet.
Gerrard is often prone to overpraising his team-mates (Cole better than Messi, anyone?!), and in a recent interview, he was at it again, building up Hart into some kind of goalkeeping messiah. He enthused:
"You should have seen Joe Hart in training. He just makes world class saves, jumps back to his feet and prepares for the next shot like nothing has happened. The rest of us are just looking at him, like what the hell was that? But it’s just normal to him. Amazing".
Hmmm. I was always under the impression that a goalkeeper's job was to make saves, then jump back up and prepare for the next shot...? Doesn't every 'keeper do that?
To be fair, in this instance, Gerrard's enthusiasm is probably warranted. Having said that, as good as Hart is, lots of Liverpool fans still think Pepe Reina is the superior goalkeeper. Indeed, in a recent survey on this site (6000 participants), 56% of voting LFC fans picked Reina over Hart as the Premier League's best goalkeeper.
Obvious pro-LFC bias there, as Hart has been head and shoulders above Reina over the last year, and I doubt any objective LFC fan would disagree with that.
Jaimie Kanwar
Pointless article. Pointless dig at Reina and Liverpool fans. Nothing to do with the headline or the content. Anyways, Hart is class.
ReplyDeletejaimie you always find a way of bein cynical about liverpool, i mean this is an article about england ffs..you seriously need to write for a different site
ReplyDeletetotally agree its incredible how this site says Liverpool kop when you do nothing but be critical about every process that the club goes through, being critical has its place, but to be critical about everything got to do with Liverpool is total disrespect for the club that you profess to care about so much!
ReplyDeleteAnother article just so you can slag off another Liverpool player. When are people gonna realise this guy dosent actually support Liverpool.
ReplyDeleteliverpool-kop doesn't mean subjective & biased kop.
ReplyDelete56% of Liverpool fans think Reina is better? If you was to ask that on a neutral footballing site 99.9% would say Joe is better, and it has not just been the last year it has been the last three.
ReplyDeleteHe Professed to be critical of LFC !!!
ReplyDeleteBeing a goalkeeper myself & die hard Liverpoolfc supporter, I have to agree that Joe is way better than Reina @ the moment, Reina was beaten way to many times on his near post this season & a good backup Goalie is needed to keep him on his toes
ReplyDeletePepe has been one of the best keepers in the world over the past 5 years so don't see how it is biased when the difference on the poll is so small.
ReplyDeleteOn top form I would have to go with Pepe although I agree Hart has a had better year.
Credit where credit is due, Hart has been outstanding for the last 2 years and seems to be getting better and better. Pepe in my opinion was right up there but has definetly been below par for quite some time.
ReplyDeleteHow many gaffes has Hart made this season? None that I can remember? To me that is a Hallmark of a great goalie, consistency and reliability. Unfortunatley Pepe's blips this season have been crucial and regular.
Agreed. Criticism totally uncalled for on this occasion!
ReplyDeleteNaughty, Naughty Jamie-Kop...
Even though Gerrard has a history of grossly exaggerating the abilities of his team mates (as previously mentioned, Joe Cole=Messi wtf!?), I think he's spot on with Joe Hart. He's had a terrific season compared to Reina.
ReplyDeleteHad i voted I would have been part of the 44% of LFC fans
Not to Mention that he nearly scored against Sporting Lisbon
ReplyDeleteSeriously why does every article of yours criticize or question everything concerning Liverpool? Do you every write anything positive about the club? And why does every headline of yours end with a question mark? You just love trolling, don't you? You are the worst excuse of a football writer and a Liverpool supporter.
ReplyDeleteNo need for this article at all....just wasting time and space really, even I am wasting energy replying (hoping in the future Jamie doesn't feel the need to fill a void with drivel). Just remember Jamie, less is more. !!!
ReplyDeleteFor me, in many ways Pepe set a new standard in the premiership. At times his Penalty saves, comfort on ball the and rapid, accurate distribution all raised the bar. Hart is physically superior, in size if nothing else and has equaled or surpassed Pepe in all areas. Sad but true. Pepe will come again though and his professionalism and team ethic are worth a couple of howlers a season.
ReplyDeleteCan't think of any better keeper in the world right now. Reina had a poor season, Casillas is prone to the odd mistake and Buffon is past it. I think it's fair to say Hart is world class.
ReplyDeleteWell. Not too long to go and we will find out just much of a world class he is. And not just him. The whole of the team. World class mngr, world class players. I'd b surprised if they get out of the group tbh.
ReplyDeleteI agree Gerrard does hype up his team-mates. But I couldnt name 3 'keepers better than Hart at the moment and over the last 2 seasons has become alot more confident and demanding. I think Hart would walk into pretty much all of the teams at the Euro's so I have to agree with Stevie here. Reina just seems to be a bit distracted right now, can hardly blame him either. Hopefully a settled managerial situation and talks with him will re-focus him for next season, however he is the only player ive seen come out and say against Brendan (to paraphrase...most would have preffered Benitez). But a confident and focused Pepe is right up there with Hart.
ReplyDeleteThis next season will be a defining one for Reina. If anyone is interested and wants to read more in depth about BR's philosophy and tactics - and where he learned them from - have a look at this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eplindex.com/15096/liverpool-fc-brendan-rodgers-tactics-pressing-game-works.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=liverpool-fc-brendan-rodgers-tactics-pressing-game-works
I find it strange how you can slag off your own captain for his opinions, I'd be proud to have Gerrard at my club, one of the best midfielders in the world for the last 10 years and you nitpick on what he has to say. Classless.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back jaimie..
ReplyDeleteGlad to see some things haven't changed.. what an absolute pointless article !!
Seriously mate.. whats the point ??
Hart is 'world class' and obviously had a better season than Reina (and every other keeper in the PL this season for the that matter) .. The obvious having been stated.. whats the point ???
You've been away on personal business( i do hope everything is ok) but seriously mate in the monumental week that has just gone in the clubs history, Is there any point in writting an article on a throw away comment by a Liverpool player on an English keeper that everybody knows and excepts is ' world class' ......
Brendan Rodgers ...
The best English keeper since Seaman that is for sure but I don't think he is as superhuman as some make him out to be (though Neuer makes more obvious mistakes). He tends to spill lot of shots or prone to offering rebound opportunities for the attacker more than the norm as well as once in a while making odd decisions in relation to coming out and attacking the ball but still a great keeper. Got plenty of time of left for him to reach the levels that Casilas and Buffon reached in the last 5-10 years. I doubt he will get there but that is no failure, as that is a very high level. The best keeper in the league at the moment and maybe the best 'in-form' keeper in Europe at the moment.
ReplyDeleteReina has been on a downward slope for the last two seasons. If it weren't for his previous seasons, he would have been targeted by the media much more a la De Gea. He needs to sort his game out, the sharpness and consistency of it. It is alarming the rate of mistakes he has made in the season just gone, not just by his standards but by any keeper's standards in this league. I'd take Hart any day.
44% of Liverpool fans (sample of 6000) didn't vote for our own man!
ReplyDeleteWell now, football fans are notoriously partisan so that stat speaks for itself.
Joe Hart is probably the best English Keeper for a generation or more. He is still young and is already probably better than James and Seaman and is pushing to reach the levels of Clements, Shilton and Banks. Of the more recent non-English keepers Cech at his best, Schmeichel and maybe Jennings are still out in front.
an you give us the addrees to your website?
ReplyDeletewell don't think you would have said that three years ago or when joe was on loan at birmingham city and shay given was city'd number 1 so don't go around spouting nonsence
ReplyDeletelets just see how he performs on the international stage and see whether he lives up to the hype no doubt he is a great keeper but how great would he be spains main choice right now hard to say but i don't think he would
ReplyDeleteSpot on man... i think Brendan Rogers described Jamie as the 3rd type of fan the other day... correct me if I'm wrong. Unless your not a fan Jamie?
ReplyDeletethink you'll find birmingham finished 9th the season hart was there, then relegated the following seaon. every city fan to a man was made up when mancini chose hart over given as he is a much better all round keeper!
ReplyDelete'much better' ???? maybe 'marginally' better.. Given is an outstanding keeper and has been for over 10 years in the PL and internationally.
ReplyDeleteEvery man city fan to a man will also tell you that it was a close call between the two.. and even though I believe Hart does indeed just shade it, as an Irish man I just had to point out the man's class ..
We'll see whos better in the quarters whan we knock England out on penos .. Given being the hero !!!
I can dream anyway .. LOL
56% of liverpool fans need help if that the case .reina is the most overrated keeper in the prem. got rid of kuyt thank god. only maxi and reina to go. these players are not the future and are on big bucks
ReplyDeleteGiven is a good shot stopper but doesn't command his area any where near harts standard, i've watched every city game for the last 10 years either live or on tele, and the difference between the 2 is obvious, however i do agree that shay is a top keeper and he could easily have sat on the bench at city and just collected a wage but to be fair to the man he wanted to play and moved in order to do so, plus i hope ireland do well as my gran is from dublin and you have the mighty dunne in your team to and he's a city legend, just not against england.
ReplyDeleteHe is obviously describing shooting practice .
ReplyDelete2 lines of 10 outfielders or so line up about 20 yards out from goal & one by one from the left then the right they shoot at the goalkeeper .
The goalkeeper only just about has enough time to get up before the next shot is arriving on target .... unless its Downing shooting of course in which case the Keeper has a cuppa tea & a few puffs on a fat cigar .
As for the Messi Quote ?
Gerrard never said Cole was a better player than Messi .
He was talking about Coles ball juggling skills which were so good Gerrard proclaimed that Cole must be better than Messi at ... BALL JUGGLING !
Yea coz like unless you have yer own site or are the sycophant dingle-berry of the owner of another site you got no room to comment like what me & tha big man Titi here does !
ReplyDeleteYou got that ?
Right ?
LoL !
ReplyDeleteTha Big Man Titi got me again with his stupendous not to mention courageous Delete on Sight Powers !
Jamie Kanwar is Class!!
ReplyDeleteJoe Hart is a world class goalkeeper, some of the saves he makes are amazing.
ReplyDeleteAnd i for one wish he was at Anfield playing for us.
Does not get beaten at his near post much either :)