Joe Hart's problem

There has been much discussion in the press about Joe Hart's sudden decline in reliability as a goalie. "He has been letting a few soft ones in" as they say. In the mid-week match for example (mentioned in the previous blog) he let in 3 goals. A few months ago he would probably have saved 2 out of 3 of those shots.

The problem is called 'Fatal Infallibility', first discovered in Italy. (This is more than just Hart Failure)

It happens like this: a goalkeeper, like Joe Hart, who is known to be highly competent, plays for his country and is praised as No 1 arrives at a state when he knows he can do it automatically. It is easy. He has saved shots from all angles for seasons. He knows that he can deal with most balls that come his way.

"Nobody gets one past me", he thinks. It's all so easy he can do it in his sleep. And everybody tells him so. And then what happens? Mentally he 'goes to sleep'. He stops being even a little bit scared that he will not perform well. It will just happen, as it always does.

At this point his performance declines because his mind is no longer pushing him to the levels where he used to go - when he was the best in England, and Everybody Said So!

And if my theory is correct then 'Fatal Infallibility' can also happen to former winners of the Tiger Balm Gardens league. Perhaps it already has.

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