Manchester City and England No 1 Joe Hart could be a 'dodgy keeper' for months to come, says Michael Owen An outfield player can mess up but score five minutes later. The mistake is instantly forgotten. There is no such luxury for a keeper, which is why Hart is facing such a test of character in these World Cup qualifiers. When De Gea joined United you could hear the pencils being sharpened and when he made a few mistakes in his early games there was a rush to say he was not the answer to Edwin van der Sar's retirement. Straight away you see this tide of lazy opinion. For over a year now he has been an excellent keeper for United. But even now you hear the odd person say in the street: "Yeah, but the United keeper is dodgy." Just because of two or three bad games he had soon after arriving from Spain. Gary Neville and I had an exchange on Twitter after Gary was critical of De Gea's performance in a game at Spurs. My point was that other players around De Gea were responsible for his mistake. Gary thought the keeper had to take the blame. On the England front, I cannot make up my mind whether the lack of competition for the No1 jersey is good or bad for Hart. When your form deserts you, all you want is for the next game to arrive so you can make amends. Get me out there. I'll fight my way out of this," is the message in your head. I was in that position many times. I would think: Don't drop me, it will turn. That is what Hart will be thinking. He walks into an England camp that values him highly. He has rarely let Roy Hodgson down and I noticed the England coach praising him in the press this week and expressing his faith in him. The competition for his place is hardly intense. I know Celtic's Fraser Forster from our time together at Newcastle. He always looked a good lad. But I would doubt he is quite right ready for England games of this magnitude. The third goalkeeper is John Ruddy: a decent player, but not a candidate to replace Hart, who will be relieved to know he remains an automatic selection. There are some unbelievably good goalkeepers around. De Gea is already top class and will be world class in time. Liverpool have bought well with Simon Mignolet. And Hugo Lloris might be the best of them all, on current form. Petr Cech is not bad either. In that glut of goalkeeping talent there is clearly a dearth of top English keepers. There is also an issue with goalkeeping coaches changing every time a new manager comes in. I have always believed that the goalkeeping department should be left alone, unless there is a very good reason to make a change. At the same time, goalkeepers should be allowed a say in who coaches them. If he is really happy with his coach, a new manager should not interfere with that arrangement. For Manchester City against Bayern Munich, Hart was beaten twice inside his near post. Normally he would save those shots in his sleep. He did dive across to the Franck Ribéry goal, for instance, so his positioning was fine. Equally, his angles were right for the Arjen Robben goal. It was just that confidence and authority deserted him in the moment he needed to stop the shots. Weaknesses in goalkeepers are always preyed upon by opposition teams, especially now, with the level of video and statistical analysis. If a keeper dislikes high balls into the box, he will be tested in that area. If he tends to parry shots, players will follow the ball in to feed off any errors. The intention is to apply as much pressure as possible, which is what makes the goalkeeper's job so mentally tough. Hart will not want quiet games now, either against Everton on Saturday or with England. He will not be looking to hide from the action. His aim will be to get himself out of a rut as fast as possible. Goalkeepers further down the league are always in the thick of the action and are tested more frequently. They have less time to dwell on their form and have more chances to shine. In Man City's goal, you might be called on properly two or three times in a game, and on those occasions you have to be perfect in your concentration and execution. For that reason, Hart will want some action now, so he can work his way through the repertoire and rebuild his confidence. But, of course, no England fan would want him to be busy against Montenegro and Poland. They will want him to have a couple of quiet nights in.