The last few weeks at Manchester City there has been a lot of focus on the goalkeeping situation and the spotlight would have been cast even further after Claudio Bravo’s debut in the Manchester derby on Saturday afternoon.
It was certainly a baptism of fire for the Chilean international as he made his first appearance since signing from Barcelona late last month and the jury will be out after his somewhat erratic display at Old Trafford.
After going 2-0 up City were well in control but then United found the one chink in their armour and that was none other than Bravo himself. His failure to deal with a free-kick meant the ball fell at Ibrahimovic’s feet and once he volleyed home to reduce the arrears, we had a contest on our hands.
You could perhaps mark that one down to opening day nerves but if the first half was unfortunate, albeit clumsy, then the second half from Bravo was incredibly erratic. On many occasions, he would have left City fans with hearts in mouths after seemingly being caught in possession.
The biggest talking point of the second half was whether or not United should have been awarded a penalty after Bravo’s almost desperate lunge on Wayne Rooney. It was apparent that Bravo had lost control of the ball and then seemed to lunge at Rooney with his feet at the ground.
On any other part of the pitch, it would have been deemed a red card and an early bath but, rightly or wrongly, goalkeepers seem to be afforded more protection and it was an incredibly lucky let off from referee Mark Clattenburg.
If they were the negatives, you have to take into account that it was Bravo’s neat footwork which started the move fro City’s opener, so it’s not as if he had an awful game. But for someone who came to the Etihad under much fanfare, you do have to ask yourself whether he was worth all the hassle.
It’s quite apparent that Bravo plays much more in keeping with the way that Pep Guardiola wants a keeper to play, and it’s not as if Joe Hart would be that comfortable on the ball and able to start off moves like the one that led to Kevin De Bruyne putting City ahead.
Also, a keeper doesn’t become bad after just one game. This is someone who has won just about everything you can win with Barcelona, not to mention Copa America success with Chile, so this is one of the world’s top ‘keepers, but his overall performance on Saturday certainly didn’t suggest that.
Perhaps it was the frenetic pace of the Premier League that Bravo has to adjust to. He was constantly harassed in the second half as United looked to put the squeeze on him and the City defence to cut off all the supply lines, and it was a tactic that very nearly worked.
You have to imagine that other teams will now look to implement that same tactic when going up against City and Bravo. It’s a style of goalkeeping that is high risk but can also bring high reward as you in effect have another outfield player as an outlet.
We pretty much saw the best and worst of Bravo in those first frenetic 90 minutes on Saturday, and he will be glad he just about cleared that first hurdle and can now acclimatise to life in English Football. But you get the feeling that he might not be so lucky throughout the duration of the season. If he plays like that every week then surely he will be caught out on more than one occasion.
It was a chaotic display by Bravo but it certainly wasn’t a dull one – he will no doubt light up the Premier League with his performances – but whether or not he grabs the headlines for the right reasons remains to be seen.
This article was submitted via our Write For Us feature. Think you can do better? Submit your own article via the link below, and give yourself the chance of winning monthly cash prizes…
[ad_pod id=’writeforus’ align=’center’]
