Fraser Forster Has Surpassed Joe Hart as England's No. 1 Goalkeeper

With every passing game, Southampton's Fraser Forster becomes more imperious. The 6'7" behemoth put in another outstanding display on Wednesday night against Arsenal to confirm he has surpassed Joe Hart as England's best goalkeeper.

Deemed not good enough by Newcastle in his early 20s, Forster was loaned out and then sold to Celtic, where he spent four successful seasons in Glasgow.

It was there that Forster first established himself as a potential England international.

On November 7, 2012, Forster was a repellent force as he aided Celtic to a 2-1 home victory over then-Spanish champions Barcelona. His performance was so impressive that the Spanish media nicknamed him "The Great Wall."

In his last season before moving back to England with Southampton, Forster wrote himself into Scottish football history.

First, he broke a longstanding club record set by Charlie Shaw in the 1920s in keeping 11 consecutive league clean sheets. He continued on to break a Scottish league record of 1,155 minutes without conceding a goal in a league match.

It must be pointed out that Forster was a part of a dominant Celtic side, one that faced little or no competition from traditionally closest rivals Rangers, who were relegated in 2012 following a period of intense financial uncertainty.

However, Forster's form went beyond that of his club's in winning the Scottish Premier League. In such achievements, Celtic were merely meeting expectations. Forster, meanwhile, was making history.

Joe Hart became England's undisputed No. 1 following the 2010 World Cup on the back of an excellent breakthrough on loan at Birmingham City. He went on to play an integral part in Manchester City's first Premier League triumph in 2012. His form has wavered in recent years, however.

The nadir of Hart's decline was perhaps a defeat to Chelsea away late last year when, in the last minute, he needlessly came rushing out of his goal to gift a winner to Fernando Torres.

As a result, Hart was temporarily dropped by his club manager Manuel Pellegrini, but he nonetheless maintained his spot as England's first-choice goalkeeper heading into the 2014 World Cup.

At the height of the debate around whom England should have taken to Brazil and how they should line up, there was a worrying lack of acknowledgement for Forster. This was all the more stunning due to the aforementioned errors committed by Hart in the season leading up to the tournament.

Amazingly, Sky Sports' Jeff Stelling didn't even mention Forster when discussing the goalkeeper selections for his personal England World Cup squad. Stelling stated that the only quandary was who he would pick as third choice behind Hart and Ben Foster.

"At first, I thought of picking Rob Green, who's not had a bad season at QPR, but I think John Ruddy should get the nod," he wrote.

Stelling's unwillingness to even consider Forster baffles, but it's an opinion that generally continues to be held by mainstream English football coverage.

Forster has taken matters into his own hands, forcing his way into the minds of pundits through his performances in the English Premier League since his Southampton switch.

Prior to recent defeats to Manchester City and Arsenal, Forster clearly established himself as the league's in-form stopper, conceding just six goals in 1,080 minutes of football.

His physicality and leadership have been a crucially authoritative presence in Southampton's surprising form this campaign, form which has led to them having the best defense in the league—at least in terms of goals conceded.

Despite this, pundits continue to pick Hart over Forster, with Sky Sports' Jamie Redknapp stating prior to England's Euro 2016 qualifier with Estonia in October that "You've got to go with Joe Hart." 

Some may proclaim that statistics can deceive, but the eyes don't. Forster was imperious once again against Arsenal on Wednesday night, pulling off one of the saves of the season. Without him, Southampton may well have lost the game by more than one goal.

His current form, matched with his consistency over the last four years, has elevated Forster beyond Hart in the English goalkeeping pecking order.

Hart has until next March to prove me wrong, but otherwise, come England's next European Championship qualifier against Lithuania, Forster should be pulling on the No. 1 jersey.