Disappointing Derby Day - City 0 - 0 United

After all of the build up, all of the talk, and all of the excitement churning in Manchester for the Manchester derby, it turned out to be the only goal-less game in the Premier League of the day.

"Tevez can win it on his own!" roared Joe Hart, "All talk!" cried Evra, "Chelsea will win the title!" screamed Roberto Mancini. If the build up was anything to go by, this game should have been one to remember, but unfortunately, it was the opposite to that.

The match fell victim of all of the hype. Much was expected of the clash of the Manchester clubs in what was expected to be a ferocious, controversy filled night - the closest we got to that was Rafael squaring up to Carlos Tevez - entertaining for a minute, but it is good football and goals we wanted to see.

Overall, United had the most possession of the ball, 53.4% to be precise, but could do very little with it. Likewise with City, when they had the ball, the United defence were too compact, and City players were not committed forward enough to mount to any real attacking threat.

Both teams had good periods where they pressurised the opposing defence, and kept the ball for long periods, but the stats don't lie, and with United having only 3 shots on target, while City had 2, you really didn't miss much if you did happen to skip the game.

United remain unbeaten this season, but manager Sir Alex Ferguson was disappointed with the draw

"City are very difficult to beat on their own ground and obviously they set their stall out," he told Sky Sports.

"I think there was too much tension for it to be kind of match people thought it would be. They set their stall out in the second half and made it very difficult for us.

"It's a decent result but we don't count draws away from home as the target before the game. Our target is to win the game and I think we had enough possession to do that

"Some of our football was good, we were good on the ball but we needed to create openings to win the match and we only really made two which was difficult."

Roberto Mancini on the other had was just happy his team improved on last seasons result.

"I think it was a difficult game for both teams. I think the result is correct but we improved from last year because we didn't concede a goal in the last minute.

"I wanted to win this game but sometimes it is better to draw than lose. We played the game to win, though."

Manchester United and Manchester City fans' heart rate would have been ever so slightly higher watching this game, but it was nothing compared to the 4 - 3 classic at Old Trafford last season, and the tense 0 - 1 win at City last year too. However for the neutral viewer, well, it wasn't great.

Great Teams Need Great Goalkeepers. Joe Hart can Be Great.

Take a look at the winning teams from recent Premier League years. Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal. All had reliable, trustworthy, established and confident goalkeepers. United had Schmeichel and now have Van Der Sar, Chelsea had, and still have Petr Cech when they won consecutive Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006, and Arsenal had Jens Lehmann in their "Invincibles" team of 2004. Who was in goal in 1966 when England won the World Cup for the first and so far only (and possibly last) time? Gordon Banks - elected in a poll by the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History Statistics) as the second best goalkeeper of the 20th Century.

 

Joe Hart is showing all of the qualities to become a top quality goalkeeper - on the same, and with his potential, possibly higher level as the goalkeepers listed above. His confidence brings so much to his game as well as others around him. He has bravery - to come out and put his body on the line for the good of the team. He has a great personality - one which shows his love of playing football - something which is rarely seen in modern football, with pressure often getting to players. And most importantly, he is reliable. His defenders know that he can catch the ball from crosses with conviction, and his reactions are second to none.

This can only mean good things for his team-mates. His defenders know how good he is, which gives them the confidence to push further forward, which, in turn, makes the midfielders push further forward, which helps to pressurise the opposition higher up the pitch. The defenders know that they can trust Hart. He lifts pressure off of his team-mates, which then helps them to play with more freedom.
Before Hart, the players couldn't do that. David James was known for his great reactions, but unfortunately, his erratic behaviour and often poor decision making too. This meant the players were always cautious and worried that a mistake could happen at any time, and they simply couldn't trust him.

The good thing is, that not only do the players trust Hart, but the manager, Capello, does as well.

"Roberto Mancini has chosen him for Manchester City and I have chosen him for the England team. He improved a lot last year when he played at Birmingham. That was really important. The two keepers we had who stayed with us [including Ben Foster] are in really good form."

England have struggled with goalkeepers for a while, with the last consistently good one in David Seaman. Have England found a long term successor? Is he a player who has the confidence and the right amount of arrogance to handle the pressure of being England Number One? Yes. And he's only 23.