Manchester City: Bad Claudio! Underperforming Bravo insists he isn’t going anywhere

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 01: Claudio Bravo of Manchester City teases the Huddersfield Town fans after Kelechi Iheanacho of Manchester City scored a goal to make it 5-1 during the Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round replay match between Manchester City and Huddersfield Town at Etihad Stadium on March 1, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 01: Claudio Bravo of Manchester City teases the Huddersfield Town fans after Kelechi Iheanacho of Manchester City scored a goal to make it 5-1 during the Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round replay match between Manchester City and Huddersfield Town at Etihad Stadium on March 1, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images) /
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Claudio Bravo says he isn’t leaving Manchester City. Damn.

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So Claudio Bravo can’t take a hint. He has been so disappointing in goal for Manchester City that he should want to get out of dodge.

But apparently he doesn’t feel the need to put his nightmare tenure behind him.

According to The Telegraph, he’s quite content at the Blue Side of Manchester. The publication quotes Bravo at some length:

"It’s all false, that I’m looking for another place to play because I want to leave, things that are not true. I’m happy in England and so is my family.The issue that I was not playing came out, many examples of fake news have come out. Things that, above all, have no information about them. Many things also come out from this country that are not true – that I have a psychologist, or an English teacher to have a faster adaptation."

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This statement comes after Willy Caballero, the longtime backup to Joe Hart whom Bravo was brought in to replace, has supplanted the Chilean on the depth chart. Bravo’s blase response beggars belief.

Let’s briefly take stock at how bad he’s been. Jamie Spencer of 90 Min writes, citing WhoScored statistics, “Bravo has saved a pathetic 11.1% of the shots he’s faced in Premier League games so far in 2017.” Basically, his form is so dismal that he lets in 9 out of every 10 shots he countenances.

That’s bad, and if I was him, I would be embarrassed by it.

Now, some of the fault can and should be laid at the feet of the defense. It’s old, slow and requires a 100-point upgrade.

However, if Bravo just increased his save percentage probably just a little in some matches — say in the 4-2 defeat at Leicester City or the 2-2 draw against Tottenham at the Etihad — maybe City would be nipping at Chelsea heels here as the season comes to its conclusion.

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So yes, I don’t ultimately blame City’s lack luster maiden voyage with Pep Guardiola at the helm on Aleksandar Kolarov, Pablo Zabaleta, John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi and company. I blame Bravo. Others should too.

And yet he acts oblivious to the outrage about the season he in large part torpedoed.

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Bravo, bravo, Monsieur Bravo: You have some nerve. Go back to La Liga. I hear Villarreal is interested in I don’t know what — certainly not your shot-stopping.

Happy or not, Bravo should leave.