#and for John who loved Jordan Pickford from years of playing with him… thank god he did or he might’ve resented Jordan for replacing Joe

[sendinthehuskies]

as an england nt historian could you pls provide background for john/joe hart as both an irl working partnership and a fictional ship? bc i have been deep diving 2016/2018 internationals content to forget about the upcoming one and i see there is a lot of....well intimate touches and looks going on. not on a disgusting and marital level as with stonesford but still noticeable. the 'caption this' vid john did with dele ft. harty walks and lallana (remember him lol) is a strong blatant example. sidebar but my deep dive has also taught me that dele and walks had some animosity at england camp back in the day which does not seem to come up much in fic of the time, kind of funny to me. how was this our 3lions squad and our vibe only 4/5 years ago too? it feels like over a decade, completely different times

Joe Hart was an England stalwart and wore the Number 1 jersey for nine years from 2008. He was with City and a double premier league winner for 12 years from 2006.

For John coming up through the England youth teams, Joe was iconic. He has been vocal about the fact that he was a fan growing up and how special it was for him to get his first call up in 2014 to finally play alongside Joe:

“I couldn’t believe it; I’d watched Harty for years as a young guy; playing for England. Obviously training with him was something special.”

John didn’t get a whole lot of time playing for the senior team when he was first called up, but it didn’t matter - he was there, and Joe Hart rated him. At the World Cup in Brazil, Joe said:

“I think we’re all incredibly excited. We’ve all worked really, really hard as a unit – I include John Stones and Jon Flanagan in that, they’ve been absolutely fantastic and a great example of people who want to be involved in this World Cup.

“We want to make them proud, we want to make the people at home proud as well.

“I’ve got a role whether playing it’s John Terry playing in front or whether it’s Stonesy starting his international career,” he said.

“I’m always going to try and fulfill my role in the team.

“But I trust every single one of these players at this level. They’ve proved it at their Premier League clubs and deserve to be in the squad.”

Joe took John under his wing and they absolutely clicked from the get go. At a time when John wasn’t too highly rated and was extremely junior in the England NT, the goalkeeper that he’d looked up to for so many years was determined to see him succeed.

Things changed in 2016 when Man City hired Pep Guardiola. Hart was excited that Pep wanted to sign John but he didn’t know that he wasn’t to be included in Pep’s plans himself:

“Joe Hart personally convinced his friend, John Stones, to join City and the “ambitious project” in 2016 - only to be shipped out on loan to Torino the same month.”

Still, when John arrived at City - very nervous and without people like Kyle Walker - Harty was there for him:

“John Stones on the first player he met at City: “I think it was Joe Hart. I came in with Harty, I didn’t know the way to the training ground. So I rang Harty asking if I could come with him.

I was nervous. Very nervous. I had friends from England, Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph and Joe Hart - he especially made it so much easier. It's a big period as you know where nothing is, like the canteen, where to be, what time to get there and he coached me through, putting an arm around me. I've still got a note in my locker from him when he went to Torino - I won't read it out as it has some naughty words - but he told me to just be me and not change who I am.”

Joe was gutted to leave City but he didn’t anticipate that he’d then be let go from England. He was part of England’s qualification for the World Cup in 2018, but after an injury ruled him out for a game, Jordan Pickford was given a chance to step in. He did not fumble his audition and was given the number 1 spot for the World Cup. Harty said:

“Not going to lie, I'm gutted. After two years of trying to make the most of a really tough situation, this is hard to take.”

A few months later, he posted on Instagram ahead of the World Cup:

John smashed it at the World Cup, and so did Pickford, and arguably it was the way they played together that made them do so well. It is unfortunate that this connection is what would ultimately cement Pickford as number 1 and see Harty dropped for good:

“Jordan’s positioning allows the team to stay spread and dispersed a lot wider. When we have the ball, he becomes what you might call a ‘second-pivot,” explains Dittmer.

“When you play with a back four, you can use the goalkeeper as the pivot to bounce the ball around. When you play with a back three - like we have done in Russia - you already have that pivot there with the central player which has been John Stones.

“As a goalkeeper behind a back three, you need to become the second pivot.

“You have to position yourself between the central defender and one of the two outside centre-halves to offer receiving positions to help the team play out.

“Those positions are quite complicated and complex to take up but he’s done that really well.

“Jordan’s positioning stops the centre forward from just closing down one option.

“If the forward runs towards Jordan, he’ll play through the pressure. If the attacker presses the central defender, there’s an option to use Jordan and get out round the other side.

“It gives the team more opportunities to play out from the back and retain possession.

“His understanding of positioning has really helped the team stay dispersed, rotate the ball and play forward in a positive way. It’s great to see and it has given confidence to everyone.”

But Joe and John stayed obsessed with each other. When they met at Tottenham years later they were physical and friendly, and Joe always has kind words to say about John - never once has he not been John’s biggest cheerleader.

Joe will always be John’s first England number 1. He was pivotal in John’s City career and the love between them has never dimmed. They will always be famous. The end