Despite mounting speculation that Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart is facing the axe at the Etihad his England rival John ruddy believes that Hart is still the main man.
Hart’s form has come under scrutiny over the past year and there have been suggestions that, as well as losing his starting spot at City, the 26-year-old should also be reconsidered as England’s number one.
The City man has been England’s first choice since England 2010 and, despite degrading form, Norwich’s Ruddy believes Hart still deserves his starting spot in the international set-up.
“Joe’s the England number one. Rightly so,” Ruddy said.
“The way he’s performed over the last few years he’s deserved it and he’s never let England down.
“I’ve been in situations before when people are questioning you. It’s never nice.
“Without being too patronising, I felt sorry for him.
“He doesn’t warrant that sort of attention. He’s a top-drawer goalkeeper, one of the best in the world without a shadow of a doubt.”
Ruddy made his England debut last year against Italy after his performances for Norwich impressed manager Roy Hodgson and the goalkeeper believes that it is the nature of the media to ‘chop down’ those who are the top.
“It’s the way the media is – you build people up so far and then chop their legs away when they get too high.
“Unfortunately that’s the way the English media goes. Until that stops we might struggle to go anywhere in competitions.”
Nevertheless Ruddy believes Hart, like any top-level goalkeeper, has the mental resilience to put errors behind him.
“Nine times out of ten a keeper makes a mistake, the ball goes in the back of the net,” Ruddy said.
“It’s a tough world but every keeper is mentally strong enough to deal with that.
“We’re a strange bunch, but you have to be. The self-confidence and self-belief that you have as an individual has to be right up there.”
Ruddy insists that he isn’t the only goalkeeper pushing Hart for his position and should Hodgson opt to drop Hart, he would have a number of suitable replacements.
The 26-year-old said: “There’s plenty of talent around. Joe knows that. Joe sets himself very high standards. I’m looking forward to working with him for the rest of the week.”
Image courtesy of football.ua , with thanks
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