Pep’s folly: City acquired a goalkeeper last summer; they require one next summer

Pep Guardiola was part detective, part scientist bemused his experiments were not working. He needed to conduct an inquest. “It is the first time in my life I have conceded a lot of goals; that never happened before,” he said on Sunday. “That is why I have to know the reason why.”

There are several, a disorganised, elderly back four where £120 million has been spent on centre-backs in three summers as Manchester City’s defensive record has deteriorated on an annual basis; the lack of a high-class defensive midfielder during Fernandinho’s ever-more frequent suspensions; the individual errors that have multiplied as flawed footballers have tried to pass like Barcelona.

Yet one is particularly obvious. He is Guardiola’s folly. He is Claudio Bravo. The Catalan complains that opponents seem to score with every attack without joining the dots to ascertain why. The Chilean is proof the Premier League is not won with the goalkeeper who has the third-worst save percentage of the 20 regulars, or with one who lets in 14 of the last 22 shots on target, or all four at Goodison Park.

His set-piece problems were predictable, his trouble with crosses advertised on his debut at Old Trafford in a display Guardiola bizarrely branded “amazing”. What was intended as defence of his player appeared delusional. Yet it set the tone for a City career where the difference between rhetoric and reality has been remarkable. Bravo’s passing, apparently his trump card, has been unexceptional, his footwork notable only for the foray outside his box that led to his red card in the Nou Camp. His agility, supposedly an asset, has been conspicuous by its absence. There are times when he barely moves, others when the ball enters the net damningly near the middle of the goal.

City acquired a goalkeeper last summer. They require one next summer. If the ideal is Guardiola’s previous No. 1, Manuel Neuer is surely unattainable. Virtually everyone else is a downgrade. Perhaps the one exception also conforms to Guardiola’s preference for footballing goalkeepers and is already in Manchester. But he is David de Gea. Barcelona recognised that Marc-Andre ter Stegen is their future and offloaded his inferior, in Bravo. If City wanted a former Barcelona player who can pass well from deep in his own half but won’t save very much, they may as well put Yaya Toure in goal. More seriously, Bravo’s wretchedness means his position should be untenable next season.

So an element of compromise is required. Guardiola has to put his principles aside and get the best shot-stopper he can. It is less about recruitment than revisiting past mistakes. He should reinstate Joe Hart next season. It would be a public admission he was wrong, an embarrassing volte face for one who felt Bravo reflected his philosophy. Guardiola has the stubbornness of a zealot and they rarely make U-turns. Even though he recalled the exiled Toure, the circumstances were different. Bringing the on-loan Hart back would be a greater climb down.

This is no eulogy to Hart. His distribution is an issue. He has perhaps not progressed as he should and is arguably no better at 29 than at 23. His errors can be too frequent and appear hubristic when his bravado gets the better of him. He is not quite in the bracket of De Gea, Thibaut Courtois, Hugo Lloris or Petr Cech. But he might be close whereas Bravo ranks nowhere near the Premier League’s foremost quartet.

And he might be the best available alternative, rendering him the rational choice. Hart can have days – and there have been a disproportionate number of them in the Champions League – when he verges on unbeatable. He can make outstanding saves. He can be a match-winner whereas Bravo has only proved a match-loser so far. He has a genuine affinity with City and, while he spent too much of Euro 2016 shouting and too little of it saving, can be a vocal leader in a team with too few.

Crucially, too, he has not burnt his bridges with bitterness. Unlike many of January’s mischief-makers, Hart’s attitude has been impeccable. He has been dignified and diplomatic in his public utterances, acknowledging it is a new manager’s prerogative to reshape his squad as he sees fit. He has thanked Torino for the opportunity they have afforded him, admitted his future lies away from City and shown no signs of rancour at his swift descent from talisman to reject at a club he served with distinction.

He may have few options – Torino cannot afford to buy him and, should Liverpool and Everton opt out again, the Premier League is not overflowing with vacancies at leading clubs – but nor will City be operating from a position of complete strength.

Even they do not have a bottomless pit of money. Recent setbacks have made it patently clear that they must prioritise buying at least one centre-back in the summer, along with first-choice left- and right-backs, plus probably another defensive midfielder. Negotiating is not Txiki Begiristain’s forte and City’s budget will be split enough ways. They have a goalkeeper who can strengthen them without commanding a fee.

There is another factor. The 17 spots for foreigners in the City squad have been packed, and at times over-subscribed, in recent years. The homegrown slots, in comparison, have been hard to fill. Two who do qualify are Fabian Delph, who has played 12 minutes of first-team football since August, and Gael Clichy, who could and should be released in the summer. Should Guardiola target foreign buys, Hart’s nationality may be necessary.

There can be no pretence he is Guardiola’s perfect goalkeeper. But then this is an imperfect situation. Hart is the pragmatic choice. The purist ought to pursue it.