Shay Given was one of the most solid shot-stoppers in the league for many years, so unsurprisingly he is not impressed with Bravo.
Former Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given has questioned Pep Guardiola’s decision to swap Joe Hart for error-prone Claudio Bravo on BBC Radio 5Live.
The England number one was shunted out of the Etihad Stadium this summer due to Guardiola’s apparent concerns about his inability to play out from the back, with Bravo brought in from Barcelona to fit the Catalan’s ‘sweeper keeper’ specifications.
However, the Chilean international, who won almost every trophy available during an exceptional two season stint at the Camp Nou, has come under heavy scrutiny since swapping La Liga for the Premier League, spilling a simple ball at the feet of Zlatan Ibrahimovic on his debut before getting sent off against his former club in the Champions League.
And, although the 33-year-old has not received too much criticism for his performance in City’s 3-1 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday, the experienced shot-stopper was left rooted to the spot as Willian smashed the visitors’ into the lead after a rapid counter attack.
And Given, who had two years at City between 2009 and 2011 before losing his place to Hart, believes Guardiola will regret farming his former sparring partner out to Torino on loan.
“I think we’ll be talking about Bravo all season because it was a big decision to get rid of Joe Hart,” the former Republic of Ireland international told Jonathan Overand on BBC Radio 5Live, broadcast at 12:00pm on 4 December.
“Hart is a better goalkeeper, Bravo was brought in because he was supposedly better with his feet but Joe wasn’t given the chance to prove he could fit in to Guardiola’s system.
“I think Guardiola might rue [letting Hart go] at the end of the season because there’s a few goals going in that you could possibly question Bravo on.
“Bravo wasn’t set [for the Willian goal], one of his feet was off the ground, and he couldn’t move and he couldn’t dive. He could see him coming and he should be set, he should be ready for it.”
With the equally unconvincing Willy Caballero in reserve, its unlikely Bravo will lose his place any time soon.
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