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Is Hart still England’s Number One?

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Joe-HartIs Joe Hart still the number one for England and Manchester City? Since the end of last season his form has dropped significantly. His faults have been prevalent all year long, from the Champions League game against Bayern Munich to his flop against Scotland at Wembley.

But as Goalkeeping bloopers go is Joe Hart’s form really that bad? Look back at 2006, when England played Croatia. Paul Robinson was in goal for this game and as a back pass approached, did an air shot and the ball rolled into the net. Then most recently in the 2010 World Cup, England were 1-0 up against the USA only for Robert Green to let a soft shot go through his hands and into the net.

With the World Cup 2014 just around the corner will Joe Hart’s performances keep him out of contention? The major question here is who could come in to replace him?

There are reports of Scott Carson coming in and doing the job, with him playing for Wigan Athletic in the Championship. He has had experience at international level before, when Steve McLaren gave him a chance.

Hart has been dropped by his club side and it’ll certainly be interesting to see how England handle the situation. With two international friendlies coming up for England against Chile and Germany, the England manager Roy Hodgson insists that he might change his plan, with John Ruddy and Fraser Foster of Celtic being called up. With limited friendlies left before next year’s World Cup, Hodgson wont want a goalkeeping crisis, so he is prepared to use two undercooked keepers to gain them experience.

Hart, however, is still a world-class keeper this was shown in last season’s Champions League game vs Borussia Dortmund with the top saves that he pulled-off that night. Hart was given his chance when Stuart Pearce was in charge where he was brought in from Shrewsbury Town.

Many people believe that inform keeper Ben Foster could push Hart for the number one spot in Brazil. Foster hasn’t been given a chance as he has been injured since August and with Roy working with Foster at West Brom he knows the keeper well. The lad certainly deserves a shot.

With the World Cup coming up in 2014 it wouldn’t be a summer without a crisis in the England camp.

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