Joe Hart insists the present Manchester City squad is able to put things right, with the goalkeeper convinced they can create more history for the club next season.
City have fallen from joint-top with Chelsea on New Year’s Day to fourth place, though Sunday’s convincing 2-0 win over West Ham United arrested this slump and ended a sequence of two consecutive league defeats.
Despite Manuel Pellegrini’s players drawing criticism that they are an ageing group who have become stale and that some need to be moved out, Hart is clear they have much to offer. “We’ve got the squad to put it right,” said the 28-year-old, who accepts City have underperformed this term.
“We’ve let ourselves down at key moments. It’s a difficult league to win. The two times we’ve won it it’s gone right to the wire. This season a lot of games we’ve played well but teams have tended to raise their game against us. It’s just how it is; that’s not me moaning. That’s this league for you – it’s tough. We accept that.”
Since 2011 City have won two titles, the FA Cup and League Cup. Hart is clear more trophies can be claimed. “There is so much more we can achieve,” he said. “We’ve only just started. City has an amazing history and great people. We’ve got a lot more history to create. We’ve been up and down the leagues [as a club]; now we are winning league titles and pushing for them.
“We’ve been together a long time now. A couple of years ago [under Roberto Mancini] we were fairly new but we had a difficult season and came away with nothing. We have grown together as a group, there is a good line of communication between manager, players and staff. We feel like we can get through whatever gets thrown at us.”
The poor campaign has not affected team spirit, according to the England goalkeeper. “We feel quite safe in the dressing room that we’ve got each others’ backs,” Hart said. “Everyone has bad games – I’ve had plenty. We are not little kids.
“It’s well documented, we’ve got an experienced squad and we’ve got people who have been through a lot of ups and downs. The good thing with this team is that it’s not down to lack of effort or desire. Sometimes you have bad games –that’s football. Sometimes people need a gee up, some people need to be criticised. We’ve been together a long time now and we make sure we know how to get the best out of each other.
“You have to take what you can – finish as high as possible. We have to win the rest of the games. That’s our only goal now. Whatever people want to make of the season can be done at the end of May and in June. We need to make sure in August we are in a position where we got something out of the season. We have to win games.”
