BRAVO FAILS STRESS TEST
THE funny thing is that few thought Claudio Bravo was a bad goalkeeper until he went to Manchester City. He had always looked good for Chile, where he is captain and the most capped player.
He was never considered a weak link at Real Sociedad, and while no goalkeeper is greatly tested at Barcelona, when he was there, Bravo did just fine.
His 754 minutes without conceding from the start of the 2014/15 season remains a club record – and someone must have tried shooting in that time.
At the Nou Camp, Bravo was not just valued as a sweeper-keeper, and few of his former teammates will be surprised that in a penalty shoot-out against Portugal at the Confederations Cup, Bravo saved all that came his way.
So there must be another explanation.
Could it be that, having worked with Manuel Neuer at Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola’s expectations of his goalkeeper as a footballer are now simply too high?
Neuer is an exceptional talent, a goalkeeper it seems who could genuinely hold his own in an outfield position.
He has no peer in that role. Yet Guardiola is insistent all his goalkeepers play in Neuer’s style, even if they clearly do not have his ability.
It did for Joe Hart, now for Willy Caballero, and while Bravo has kept his place at Manchester City, he does not look the same player for his club as his country.
Is he unnerved by the pressure of the role? Is he undermined by falling short of Guardiola’s high standards? Is it affecting his game?
He is not the Bravo of Chile, and that is what Manchester City hoped to have bought.
Meanwhile, City fear they may be stuck with Samir Nasri and it could end up costing them £25 million.
The £120000-a-week midfielder, 30, who is on loan at Sevilla, is surplus to requirements at City and the subject of a Uefa probe into an alleged breach of doping rules.
He has been linked with a number of clubs, but if he is banned, club officials are concerned that City could be lumbered with paying £12.5m in wages to a player who cannot play and who has two years left on his contract – not to mention missing out on a potential transfer fee of £12m.
The investigation was launched after a bizarre incident last December in which Nasri appeared to use an intravenous drip at a Los Angeles clinic.
If he is found to be in breach of anti-doping rules he could face a ban of up to four years, although two is thought to be more likely.
Nasri was with the Spanish club when he made a visit to the LA intravenous therapy clinic Drip Doctors, who tweeted that they had provided the player with “an IV drip to keep him hydrated and in top health during his busy soccer season with Sevilla”.
The Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sport initially launched a probe, which is understood to being now handled by Uefa.
Such treatments are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency unless administered in quantities of no more than 50 millilitres per sixhour period, or when a certificate of special dispensation on medical grounds has been obtained.
Nasri would have needed a Therapeutic Use Exemption from the regulation but whether he had one is unclear.
If he is banned, City may well seek legal advice and explore their options with regards to the player’s contract.
After the Drip Doctors tweet, a number of responses were sent from Nasri’s account which suggested the clinic had also provided services of a sexual nature. The player later claimed his account had been hacked.
Reports have linked Nasri with a lucrative move to China, while Turkish giants Besiktas and Galatasaray have also been named as potential bidders, along with AC Milan.
Nasri, who was sent off for butting Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy in the Champions League round of 16 in March, has had a career of ups and downs since joining City from Arsenal for £24m in 2011.
He won two Premier League titles at the club, but former manager Roberto Mancini, in his final season in charge, accused Nasri of only giving “50 percent” in training.
The Italian joked that he would like to punch Nasri because of his inconsistent form.
The player had a resurgence under Manuel Pellegrini and signed a five-year contract in 2014. However, following Guardiola’s arrival last summer, Nasri left for Sevilla. – Daily Mail