Does Hart have an issue?

It seems that Joe Hart is not the man for Pep Guardiola, but as the England goalkeeper prepares for life away from Manchester City, are there deeper issues to address? Adam Bate consults the experts and the stats in an attempt to get to the root of Hart’s problems…

Manchester City’s signing of Claudio Bravo has put Hart’s ability with the ball at his feet under the spotlight. The England goalkeeper’s distribution skills have been unfavourably compared with the new man and it’s clear that this has been a key factor in Guardiola’s thinking.

However, Hart’s 100 per cent pass completion rate in what looks to have been his final City game against Steaua Bucharest offered some evidence to suggest that a stylistic shift could be made quickly enough. This is a man who has been confident enough to take penalties in the past, after all.

But there’s a more worrying alternative explanation for Hart’s departure that might have been overlooked amid the talk of playing styles. His difficult summer, including errors against Wales and Iceland at Euro 2016, owed little to passing problems but rather his shot-stopping abilities.

Both of those goals came low to Hart’s left and there are signs that this is a recurring theme for the 29-year-old. His last defeat as a City player came in a 4-2 reverse at Southampton in which Sadio Mane twice beat him at his near post on his left side.

City’s previous defeat was against Manchester United when Marcus Rashford slotted the ball to Hart’s left to score the only goal of the game. The loss before that one was a 3-0 defeat at Anfield in which all of the goals went in to his left as well.

Liverpool’s opener by Adam Lallana in that game in March was particularly unconvincing. The strike didn’t appear to be the cleanest and there was little swerve. And yet, Hart was beaten – seemingly slow to react down to his left. It felt like …

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