Manchester City recorded a 2-0 win at Bournemouth on Monday night to move up to second in the Premier League table. A key factor in the result was that the Citizens kept a second clean sheet in two games with Argentinian backup goalkeeper Willy Caballero preferred to Claudio Bravo.
Chilean international Bravo has come in for a lot of criticism since his summer move from Spanish champions Barcelona. The Citizens have conceded lots of goals by their standards this season and Bravo’s performances have been a key to City’s defensive issues for some.
Prior to being dropped from the starting line-up, Bravo had conceded eight goals in his previous four Premier League appearances. City boss Pep Guardiola has moved to back his under fire ‘keeper in the press, but the fact that he is still benched suggests that the Catalan boss is having his doubts about Bravo.
Guardiola had to back Bravo, though, as the former Barcelona boss signed him and allowed England ‘keeper Joe Hart to leave on a season-long loan at Torino. The decision looks like a very questionable one at the moment.
Some experts claim that City would not have let in so many goals if Hart would have been between the sticks this season. The 29-year-old has enjoyed a decent campaign in Serie A but has continued the recent trend of making costly errors in Turin.
It seems unlikely that Hart will be back in the City squad next season. It seems more likely that the England goalkeeper will be sold on and Guardiola will buy a new goalkeeper in the summer.
Caballero is not a long-term solution, but his performances have proven that maybe Manchester City are better off without Bravo in goal. Guardiola’s current reluctance to reinstate Bravo as number one says everything about the team’s goalkeeping situation.