Joe Hart Interview: Ultimately, Chelsea Were Better Than Us This Season

With the conclusion of the season offering teams an opportunity, however brief, to reflect on their results, Manchester City will surely go into the summer analysing why they were unable to make a stauncher defence of their Premier League title.

For Joe Hart, however, that is not a difficult question to answer: Jose Mourinho’s side were simply better than their rivals over the course of the campaign, and City will have to raise their level if they are to reclaim the domestic crown from the Blues next term.

“You have got to say that Chelsea have played well,” Hart tells Bleacher Report, when asked why City were unable to mount a stronger defence of the title.

“Ultimately, they’ve won most of their games, and that’s one of the main reasons [they’ve won the league]. If you compare it to last season, we’ve also suffered a few untimely defeats at key points in the campaign, and that hasn’t helped us.”

He adds: “It’s been a difficult season—not ideal. We would have certainly liked to have been closer to Chelsea. We’ve had a couple of disappointments in the cup competitions as well. I think we could have at least won one of them.”

As a team, the season may have ended up something of a disappointment. On a personal note, however, Hart has every right to point to a number of positives. He enters the final weekend of the season with a chance of winning the Premier League’s Golden Glove award, the prize handed to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets over the course of the campaign, for the fourth time in his career.

After winning the award three seasons in succession prior to Petr Cech and Wojciech Szczesny’s shared victory last term, another win would be a tangible sign of what many observers feel they have watched this season: the England No. 1 playing at perhaps the highest level of his career to date—producing a number of eye-catching saves along the way—even amid a disappointing collective campaign.

“Winning the game, and keeping a clean sheet, is always the main thing—and whatever comes with it [on a personal level] is an added bonus,” Hart says. “But what is important is to have a good season as a team, to do well for the fans and the team.”

Nevertheless, winning the award would cap off a season in which his form seems to have returned to impressive levels. In City's most recent game, against Swansea City, Hart’s save from Federico Fernandez was branded by many as the stop of the season.

“I’ve had an OK season, but I’m still trying to improve,” he notes. “I’ve played a lot of games now, but I’m still learning, still trying to help the team win games.”

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It feels very different from last season, which ended with Hart back in the team after being dropped for a short period by manager Manuel Pellegrini following a run of uncharacteristic mistakes. The 28-year-old stops short of admitting that being dropped, and then having Willy Caballero brought in as competition for his starting spot during the summer, inspired a revival in form, but he acknowledged he worked hard to get back to his best after that difficult spell.

“From my perspective, that’s just what happened,” he says, when asked why his form picked up again after those twin challenges to his status. “There’s not much I could do about it all, and I just had to use it as motivation to improve and get back to the level I wanted to be at. Willy is a great goalkeeper. We help each other a lot.”

Hart admits that the standard of goalkeeping in the Premier League appears to have improved considerably over the last 12 or 18 months, with a number of clubs now boasting two solid No. 1s to choose from. That has also led everyone to raise their games.

“I can’t really speak for other European leagues because I’m not involved [in them] week in, week out,” he says, when asked if the English top flight has the best goalkeepers in Europe. “But I think the standard of goalkeeping in the Premier League is really, really high. A lot of teams have fantastic No. 1s, and some of them have two great goalkeepers in their ranks, and that pushes all of us on to keep improving.”

Manchester City’s Premier League disappointment this term was matched by similar setbacks in the cup competitions, with a Champions League last-16 exit at the hands of Barcelona another frustrating chapter in the club’s recent European history.

Subsequent events, or at least Barcelona’s often untouchable, effervescent attacking displays in the months since, have perhaps cast that elimination in a less damning light, but Hart is not about to use that as any sort of justification for City falling short on the continent once again.

“I think, in the end, they did beat us quite comfortably,” he points out. “We did cause them trouble in certain parts of the two games, but I think we also know we didn’t play to our full potential. But they are a fantastic team.”

When asked specifically about the threat Lionel Messi poses, Hart added: “He’s a top, top player. He’s one of the best players in the world, if not the best, and he’s very talented. He’s tough to play against, but we’ve played him a few times now—hopefully we get another chance over the coming seasons.”

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If that is the case, City will surely have to strengthen their squad to give themselves the best chance of securing a different result. Inevitably, a club such as City are linked with a new summer transfer target almost daily, and though Hart is hopeful of some summer reinforcements, he believes the current squad is already one capable of winning titles next term.

“We’ve got a fantastic squad, with fantastic players," he said. "Obviously, any improvements are welcome, and we’ve got a whole group of people working away on that, but as far as I am concerned, the squad is good. We’ll come back for next season and we’ll be ready to go again.”

Before then, however, Hart has the small matter of a couple of England games. With qualification for next summer’s European Championship almost secure, he feels the mood in the camp is good as we move within 12 months of another international tournament.

“It’s gone well so far,” Hart says. “We’ve won all our games, so we want to keep going and qualify as soon as possible. I think our position is strong at the moment, but we need to make sure we keep winning. That’s the most important thing, and then whatever comes from that.

“[The atmosphere in the squad has] been good, but it helps that we’re winning games. People are enjoying being involved and some of the new faces have added to the atmosphere. Harry [Kane] is one of those players who has come in and done well, and now we’ve all got a year to really push on and make our cases [for inclusion in the final squad].”

That includes Hart. The 28-year-old may have already played over 50 times for England and made more than 400 appearances at club level, but he still feels like he is nearer the start of his career than the end.

“I’m always looking to improve. I’m always looking to play at a higher level, and that’s not changed,” he says. “I’m not thinking I’ve reached my peak. I want to keep improving, keep playing for as long as possible.”

He concluded: “I watch other goalkeepers, because unsurprisingly I’m a fan of goalkeeping, and I like to see what they are doing and how they approach things. But I wouldn’t say I try to emulate anyone or copy any moves. I just want to be the best goalkeeper I can be and train hard each day to do that.”

No. 1 Goalkeeper Joe Hart relies on the UK’s No. 1 shampoo Head & Shoulders to feel prepared and confident for the game ahead. www.headandshoulders.co.uk