Hart on Manchester City’s Community Shield loss, Chelsea’s opening and Arsenal’s title defence
Enzo Maresca's Manchester City lost 3-0 to Mikel Arteta's Arsenal in the Community Shield in Cardiff on Sunday. Former City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart, now a BBC Sport pundit, discussed Manchester City's rebuild, Chelsea's prospects under Xabi Alonso and Arsenal's task of defending the Premier League title on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.
Pep Guardiola has stepped down after a decade in charge at Manchester City and Maresca has taken over at the Etihad Stadium, with the club active in the transfer market; they briefly broke the English transfer record to sign Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for £116m, are in talks to sign Ayyoub Bouaddi, 18, from Lille for £85.6m and still want Chelsea's Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez, while Spain's World Cup Golden Ball winner Rodri looks likely to move to Barcelona. The 3-0 Community Shield defeat to Arsenal provided the immediate context for Hart's remarks, and Hart noted he won two league titles with City.
Hart said of City’s expectations: "I think the club isn't heaping massive expectation on this season. I think they still believe that they've got the team and they've got the quality to challenge. "I still feel they'll want to be pushing on all fronts. But the same sort of pressure, as an organisation, I don't think will be on this season… I don't think they're going to be put under that pressure internally. "Externally, there's always going to be the noise. Maresca will come immediately under fire in terms of how people want to jump all over Man City if they do struggle. "Internally, I think they're intelligent enough as a business to understand that what's going on right now is going to be difficult."
On the difficulty of defending a title, Hart recalled his own experiences after winning with City in 11-12 and 13-14 and warned of the scrutiny champions face: "I was walking on water at that time. I actually thought I was 'that guy'. "And football finds a way, really quickly, of showing you that you're not. And when things started to unravel, which they will in any season, [they] seemed to really unravel because all of a sudden [you're under] that kind of champion scrutiny. "And it's really important how Arsenal are going to handle that, but Mikel Arteta has done a brilliant job, and he makes really big decisions and bold decisions. And it's about how you handle that first hurt. It's ironic that getting to the top is the easy thing, it really is." Mikel Arteta led Arsenal to their first Premier League title in 22 years last season.
Hart described Chelsea's recent difficulties, noting their "miserable league campaign last season", the brief tenure of Liam Rosenior in the hotseat at just over three months, and the consequence that their 10th-place finish means there will be no European football at Stamford Bridge this season for just the third time this century. He cited the 16-17 season when Antonio Conte's side won the title after a season without Europe as a relevant precedent.
Quoting Gary Cahill on Conte's impact, Hart said: "I do remember Gary Cahill talking about Conte coming in to a Premier League team like Chelsea who [weren't] in Europe," said Hart. "He said they were so well drilled, he was so intense in what they needed. They almost had NFL playbooks and it allowed them the time to build into the season. "So that's a massive advantage for someone like Xabi Alonso, who's obviously got his way of playing and he'll have his time on the grass with his players. Their ceiling is, of course, to be in amongst it. I think it is. And they've got a really great opportunity."
Hart framed these observations as central questions heading into the new Premier League season, focusing on how Manchester City will adapt under Maresca, how Arsenal will cope with champion scrutiny, and whether Chelsea can use their lack of European football to rebuild under Xabi Alonso.
