Joe Hart or Willy Caballero? Manuel Pellegrini can't decide on Manchester City's No 1 goalkeeper  

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There is something about the subject of Joe Hart that is guaranteed to get under the skin of Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini.

Perhaps, after naming him as a substitute for the 3-0 defeat by Arsenal in the Community Shield at Wembley, he just doesn’t really fancy him. It has always felt that way.

Pellegrini picked Willy Caballero to play in goal ahead of Hart as the countdown to City’s title defence gets under way.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch Pellegrini refuse to back Joe Hart as his number one 

Playing for keeps: Joe Hart and Willy Caballero will compete to be Manchester City's No 1 this season

‘All 22 players we have in our squad must demonstrate who is No 1 in all positions,’ claimed Pellegrini.

‘Joe finished last season playing well. We will see next Sunday who starts at Newcastle.’

On Sunday, Caballero, the Argentine keeper who worked with Pellegrini at Malaga, looked no better than Hart. Priced at £6million, he looked ordinary.

In a head-to-head, Hart has won two Premier League titles with City and is the established first choice England keeper (not that that says very much). At 32, Caballero’s last big trophy win was the Copa Libertadores with Boca Juniors in 2003. He was so far off the radar of Argentina coach Alex Sabella he didn’t even make their World Cup squad.

Pellegrini, though, is a title-winning coach with City and his views, difficult to comprehend on this matter, ought to be respected. He knows what Caballero is capable of, even if we saw no evidence of it during a disturbing performance from the champions.

Average: Will Caballero failed to impress on his competitive debut in the Community Shield

No protection: Willy Caballero was not helped by a second string Manchester City defence in front of him

Hart, who won his second Premier League medal last season, played 90 minutes against Olympiacos in the Guinness Challenge Cup last week and got half a game against Liverpool on July 31.

Even taking into account an extended break since the World Cup, he has not spent enough time in goal during City’s pre-season. ‘Hart only arrived 10 days ago and the other players have been working for longer,’ said Pellegrini.

‘Aguero, Zabaleta, Demichelis, Kompany, Sagna and Fernandinho only arrived seven days ago. We will see who is ready and who is not next week.’

City looked anything but ready on Sunday. To be fair to Caballero, the four defenders in front of him — Gael Clichy, Dedryck Boyata, Matija Nastasic and Aleksandar Kolarov — were a huge disappointment.

Captain Vincent Kompany and new signing Bacary Sagna were in the stands to watch their team pulled all over the pitch by this fluid Arsenal team. ‘Sagna, what’s the score?’ crowed Arsenal’s supporters and they had every right to have a dig. Based on this, he made the wrong choice.

Glove and war: Joe Hart has hardly been involved in manchester City's pre-season after an extended break

In April 2011, just as Manchester City were about to really get going under Sheik Mansour, the Wembley experience was something special. Roberto Mancini’s players posed for selfies before kick-off and went souvenir hunting after beating Manchester United 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-final.

Everything, from the smell of the freshly-cut lawn at the national stadium to the Molton Brown soap dispensers in the industrial-sized dressing rooms, was unique.

On Sunday, the champions of England, on their sixth visit to the Wembley since that victory in the semi-final, played like they didn’t want to be there.

It was a chance for Pellegrini to show that this team is ready for the challenges ahead. Instead they couldn’t get out of the place quick enough.

VIDEO My team weren't ready 

Second best: After trading barbs, Arsene Wenger got the better of Manuel Pellegrini at Wembley

Jose Mourinho counts his Community Shield success with Chelsea in 2005, plus equivalent Super Cup win with Inter Milan and Real Madrid, as a trophy. So should City.

This is the start of the season, an official fixture that is broadcast around the world.

Perhaps they are getting a bit too casual, too familiar with that walk into the Wembley dressing rooms now they are a major force again.

At Newcastle, when they walk on to the field as defending Barclays Premier League champions, they will have to show who is No 1.

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