Gareth Southgate reveals Joe Hart pep talk before Slovenia match
Tuesday 11 October 2016 23:43, UK
Gareth Southgate believes Joe Hart’s current state of mind was the catalyst for his stunning performance against Slovenia.
England were second best against a team 67th in the FIFA world rankings as the hosts were denied by a combination of the woodwork and Hart's superb goalkeeping as they came away with a 0-0 draw.
Hart's has been the subject of much scrutiny after being axed by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and sent on loan to Torino, but he performed heroics to keep Slovenia at bay.
Jasmin Kurtic hit the post and Hart spectacularly tipped a header onto the crossbar from the same player.
The 'keeper also had to be on his game to deny Josip Ilicic twice from two one-on-one situations following sloppy back-passes from England players.
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Southgate thinks Hart's performance was triggered by the player's current mood away from the spotlight.
"I talked to him at length earlier in the week and he agrees that he's at his best when he's calm and composed," Southgate told Sky Sports News HQ.
"He was that in the two games we had this week. Not only the saves he made, but also the way he dealt with the ball at his feet - I thought he showed what a top goalkeeper he is."
England did stage a brief late rally, but a winner would have been unfair on the tenacious Slovenians, who became the first team to have more shots than England in a competitive game since Montenegro in March 2013.
Southgate revealed he thought the point could be a good one in the "long-term" but was far from pleased with the defensive errors that led to the wave of Slovenia chances.
"It was a big concern - we are asking the team to play from the back and it wasn't an easy pitch to do that," he said.
"You have to accept there will be some mistakes. Some of that was decision making and that's an area we'd have to be better in. I think it's the right way to try and play. We just have to eradicate some of those errors."
