ROBERTO MANCINI SAYS he is prepared to drop Joe Hart if the Manchester City goalkeeper goes through a sustained run of poor form.
While the 25-year-old has become accustomed to being described as ‘one of the best goalkeepers in the world’ by a British press determined not to see Robert Green or John Ruddy get within spitting distance of the England jersey, Hart has wobbled in recent weeks and put in his worst performance for his country in the 4-2 defeat to Zlatan Ibrahimovic during the week.
Now his club boss says that he is far from irreplaceable, with Costel Pantilimon knocking on the door for the Premier League champions.
“For me he is the first choice but if he does not play well I change. I don’t have any problem,” Mancini said.
“Joe is like Mario Balotelli, like all the other players. For England I think it will be the same. If he does not play well maybe the manager can change the keeper.
“Costel Pantilimon is a good keeper and if Joe does not play well for five or six games, probably I can change the keeper. This is normal.
“But I trust totally in Joe, for me he is the best keeper in England. I am sure he can do some mistakes sometimes, this is a keeper’s life.
“If a keeper does a mistake, you concede a goal and you lose. If the striker doesn’t score a goal the game can finish 0-0.
“Ibrahimovic can score against every keeper. Ibrahimovic for me is one of the top five strikers in the world.”
