Manchester City's Claudio Bravo Talks Early Season Struggles and Holiday Fixtures

Claudio Bravo sees a lot of promise in his Manchester City side after recent success against Watford and Arsenal.

He told reporters after the consecutive victories, "If we do things well and we get back to our best performances, we're going to make things very complicated for any team to take points off us at our stadium.

"It just depends on maintaining our level, on defending well and attacking the right way."

English football fans have been skeptical- if not wholly critical- of the Chilean goalkeeper for his nervy performances since replacing fan-favorite Joe Hart.

"When you have bad results they speculate about other types of things, they look for the negatives,” Bravo said.

It’s not hard to believe his insistence that the team has “always believed in the manager, believed in the work and believed in ourselves." But there have been fumbles and mistakes in the City box that have made the blood pressure of Sky Blues rise to uncomfortable levels.

Of course, the lack of quality can hardly be attributed solely to Bravo but there was an expectation that he would provide unique maturity and composure to Pep’s side.

Meanwhile, rumors have circulated that the keeper is seeking a return to Spain after his troubled start. Simultaneous reports have cited City’s efforts to land other talented keepers, including Leicester City stopper Kasper Schmeichel.

Regardless, Bravo said, "I'm calm as always. This is a collective effort. When things don't go well it's everybody's responsibility and when you get [good] results it's exactly the same. We will see at the end of the season if the work has paid off."

He must have been pleased to see a consistent defensive formation between the games against Watford and Arsenal but City fans will hope that he can prove his worth with legitimate leadership and shot-stopping capabilities during the busy holiday schedule.