Roberto Mancini has a dilemma on his hands. With Joe Hart saying he is willing to go out on loan again this season instead of being Shay Given’s understudy, Mancini has a big decision to make with regards to whom he decides to start in the Manchester City goal in the opening day fixture against Tottenham on August 11th.

Shay Given’s recovery from a shoulder injury suffered towards the tail end of last season is ahead of schedule and the Irishman looks set to be fit for the opening day clash with Spurs. Since his arrival from Newcastle, Given has established himself as City’s first-choice and one of the finest goalkeepers in the Premier League. He has amassed a great deal of experience, having spent almost 12 years on Tyneside where he earned his reputation as a top-quality goalkeeper despite playing behind a suspect defence. Given has also amassed 103 international caps with the Republic of Ireland, making him the joint most capped player along with Hull midfielder Kevin Kilbane.

During his career, Given has been known for being an outstanding shot-stopper with quick reflexes. However, he has come under scrutiny for the organisation of his defences as both Manchester City and Newcastle have had porous defences while Given has been in goal. There have also been questions about his ability to deal with crosses but Given’s reputation is such that these criticisms have hardly detracted from his stellar reputation.

In the face of the competition for places at Eastlands, Given has welcomed Hart’s challenge for his place in the City starting eleven but he believes his experience should allow him to edge out the challenge of Hart for the number one spot. Given has been quoted in the People as saying:

“It’s definitely good to have that rivalry now Joe is back at the club but at 34 I am an experienced goalkeeper and I don’t worry about an error costing me my place in the team.”

Joe Hart will be looking to prove Shay Given wrong.

Hart has recently returned to City following a highly successful loan move at Birmingham last season and is desperate to displace Given as Mancini’s first-choice goalkeeper. So much so that Hart has expressed his unwillingness to play Given’s understudy at Eastlands, saying to The Sun “it [playing backup] doesn’t really interest me if I’m honest. I’ve played a lot of football and that’s all I want to do.”

As a result of his impressive performances at St. Andrew’s last season, Hart earned himself a call-up to England’s World Cup squad in South Africa. While he didn’t feature for Capello in South Africa, Hart has aspirations of capturing the number one jersey from David James and this ambition would be severely damaged by a lack of playing time.

Mancini has placed his faith in Hart’s dream by intimating that he also believes the England youngster could be “the first-choice goalkeeper for England for the next ten years” but admitting that he is unsure about which goalkeeper he will be starting this season.

Who do you think should start in the City goal, Hart or Given?

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