Zabaleta lends support to troubled colleague.
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Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta has insisted that he and his fellow teammates are fully behind struggling goalkeeper Joe Hart after he endured yet another tough week, Sky Sports reports.
The England stopper hit the headlines once again following another blunder during City’s 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League last week.
It is not the first time Hart’s form has been questioned over the last couple of seasons either, and he perhaps might have done better for Everton’s goal in City’s 3-1 win at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Romelu Lukaku managed to squeeze the ball past him despite getting a hand to it, and Zabaleta has said that it will only be a matter of time before he finally rediscovers his best form.
“We saw him during the week a little bit down,” said Zabaleta. “We need him to come back again to his best.
“Sometimes it happens in football but that’s why team-mates need to support all the players. He knows we’re all behind him.
“Of course he’s upset. It’s really hard for any player when you know you’re not doing well. He has a personality so he needs to show that he’s coming back to his best. And I’m sure he will do because he’s a great goalkeeper.
“We’ve seen him for a long time doing very well so that’s why it’s strange to see him like this.”
The home crowd also maintained their vociferous support of their number one in a bid to boost the confidence of the 26-year-old.
“He’s been here for a long time and the fans are behind him, everybody’s behind him. I felt very good when I saw the crowd giving massive support to him. We need to be all together in this time,” Zabaleta added.
City manager Manuel Pellegrini admitted he gave considerable thought to picking Romanian Costel Pantilimon ahead of Hart before deciding to stick with the England keeper.
Zabaleta does not expect the competition to adversely affect Hart, saying: “Costel is another great goalkeeper and he is putting pressure on him, and that is great.
“I think for everyone, we know we’ve got two good players in every position and we need to feel the competition. That is normal.”