It has gotten so bad for Joe Hart even Gary Neville is criticising him.
Although he's punditry's game-changer, the erudite Neville was allergic to pinpointing any of the numerous errors Hart made last season, most notably when he fumbled Steven Caulker's header into his own net against Tottenham.
Wednesday night represented a watershed moment.
Hart experienced one of his worst nights on Wednesday
"You have to say Joe Hart's got to do better again at that near post," Neville noted after Arjen Robben made it 3-0 to Bayern Munich at Manchester City. "That's twice he's been beaten there tonight. He'll be disappointed again."
Neville is in an invidious position, given his England coaching role, but he has belatedly bucked the trend. Hart was poor in 2012-13 season but he's regressed.
His slump has extended to over a year. Whereas last season he could be beaten by an innocuous Adam johnson effort or impersonate Massimo Taibi at Southampton and retain his teflon status, now his allies are fronting up.
Mistakes are being made literally on a weekly basis and City coach Manuel Pellegrini admitted he is "worried".
Flimsy, hesitant and feeble accurately describe Hart's failure to thwart Bayern's three goals. Gaël Clichy was also culpable for Thomas Müller's effort though Hart's body language following Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben's indicated a self-doubt.
Chastising Hart is now in vogue because his errors have become so regular even though his form has actually been largely poor since a jittery European Championship. As awesome as Zlatan Ibrahimović's audacious volley against England was, it would not have happened without Hart's rash surge from his penalty area.
And due to his nationality Hart has benefitted from a blinkered press.
Even as early as August Clive Tyldesley, the ITV commentator, argued Hart "might have been unsighted" when he palmed Scotland midfielder James Morrison's seemingly harmless shot in.
One journalist said during Euro 2012: "Outside of Neuer for Germany I'd take Hart over any other keeper and I include Casillas and Buffon in that." Hart was superb for City during their title-winning campaign yet the hype wasn't justified to that giddy degree.
Hart was at fault for Morrison's opener
A first-teamer at City when he was just 20, Hart's best professional campaign remains his stunning stint on loan at Birmingham in 2009-10. He was inexplicably overlooked in favour of calamitous couple Robert Green and David James at the World Cup, just one of Fabio Capello's numerous errors in South Africa.
Ahead of City's first game of the 2010-11 season at Tottenham, the build-up was dominated by whether Roberto Mancini would start Hart, back from Birmingham, or Shay Given as his number one. Hart deservedly got the nod and was magnificent in a goalless draw.
Later that season, he made a vital stop from Dimitar Berbatov in the FA Cup semi-final as City eventually ended their 35-year wait for a major trophy. Hart received the Golden Glove award and retained it when City won their first title in 44 years.
Hart was exceptional for Birmingham in 2009-10
What marked Hart out as such a special talent was his cocksureness. On one occasion, it cost City in a 2010 draw with Blackburn but it was part of the learning curve.
That self-assurance was also his undoing. He sullied himself during England's penalty shootout defeat to Italy in Kiev and Andrea Pirlo admitted after the game Hart's Haka facial expressions persuaded him to take a Panenka penalty. Hart is yet to regain that confidence and Mancini's poor man-management hardly helped.
In Costel Pantilimon, Pellegrini has a competent, if unspectacular, reserve 'keeper. City host unbeaten Everton on Saturday before the international break, and the timing suits their new coach to drop Hart.
Hart's relationship with Mancini deteriorated
Hart's hero, Peter Schmeichel, benefitted from a rest in his final season with Manchester United. His form in the first half of the Treble-winning term was worrying, but a week away in the Bahamas invigorated the Dane and he proved to be pivotal, saving Dennis Bergkamp's FA Cup semi-final penalty and preserving the one-goal deficit in the Champions League final.
David de Gea is another example. Although a victim of some inexplicable tinkering by Sir Alex Ferguson, he has emerged as the Premier League's best goalkeeper since he regained his place in December.
What has also weakened Hart's position is Fraser Forster's eye-catching display for Celtic against Barcelona. Forster performed well against the Catalans last year but was still flying under the radar for sceptics south of the border. Now he has emerged as a candidate to dislodge Hart at international level.
It is unlikely when England face two crucial World Cup qualifiers. Roy Hodgson will be mindful of Steve McClaren's decision to give Scott Carson his competitive international debut for the final Euro 2008 qualifier at home to Croatia. The Niko Kranjčar clanger aside, Carson was also at fault for Mladen Petrić's winner and his career has never recovered from the trauma.