TIP FOR KANE AND CO WHEN THEY GET A SIGHT OF BRAVO ... SHOOT!
AS HARRY KANE prepares to face Manchester City on Saturday, one imagines he has a single thought on his mind. Shoot. So too, Christian Eriksen, so too, any forward with an eye for goal and an upcoming date with Claudio Bravo. In City’s last seven league games, all with Bravo in goal, they have conceded to the first shot on four occasions. Bravo’s numbers are alarming. Everton scored four from four attempts, Chelsea three from four and Leicester four from six. Liverpool had one shot on target all game, it went in and City lost by the narrowest margin. Bravo has now been beaten 14 times from 22 shots — a disastrous ratio considering Darren Randolph has let in four goals from 22, while Thibaut Courtois, Tom Heaton, Vito Mannone and Simon Mignolet have allowed five. This would not be so harmful if Bravo was making use of his perceived strengths. The implication, on his arrival, was that he was nothing less than a midfield player in gloves; that with the ball at his feet, he would set up quick counter-attacking moves. He was going to be a gamechanger in English football and pretty soon our old priorities would be obsolete. It hasn’t happened. Indeed, it is hard to think of a single pass that Bravo has played that does not amount to straightforward clip to the full back. Pep Guardiola has more than earned the right to pick the goalkeeper he wants, but it seems incredible that he did not think Joe Hart capable of learning such a rudimentary skill. Could City not have persevered with him, an extra two hours passing practice in the afternoon every day? Bravo’s superiority as a footballer does not outweigh his inferiority as a goalkeeper and, in the meantime, the rest of the Premier League now know his weakness. Shot-stopping. For a man in his position, it’s the equivalent of a lion-tamer declaring a fear of claws.