Newcastle United crashed to a 4-2 defeat against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday and Nick Pope has been slammed for his performance.
The Newcastle United goalkeeper has done a reasonably good job since joining the club, but he was quite mediocre against Brentford.
The talkSPORT pundit Jason Cundy was left unimpressed with the performance from the goalkeeper, and he believes that the Newcastle star is simply not up to the mark when it comes to distribution. Cundy added that Pope is an impressive shot-stopper, and his handling of the ball is quite good as well.
Cundy said on talkSPORT (5:51 pm, December 7, 2024): “I am not sure about Nick Pope. I think Nick Pope has been a great acquisition for where you were to where you want to be. I am not sure long term he is going to be good enough.
“I am not impressed with Pope. I just feel that he is too big. He is like a giant oak. Oaks take a long time to fall. He can’t collapse quick enough, mate. He is too big. Brilliant shot-stopper, not convinced with the ball at his feet. He looks like a giant oak with the ball at his feet. Shot-stopping, catching, all of that – brilliant.”
The goalkeeper took 42 touches of the ball against Brentford and had a poor pass accuracy of 70%. For a club looking to finish high up the table and compete for major trophies, that is simply not good enough.
With most modern goalkeepers quite accomplished when it comes to building from the back, Newcastle will have to find a solution to their problems. It will be interesting to see if they decide to replace Pope in the coming months. He has been linked with an exit in the last few months.
There is no doubt that he is a quality goalkeeper, but he might not be good enough to start for a team serious about competing in the Champions League and pushing for major trophies.
It remains to be seen how the situation develops. Pope has now conceded seven goals in his last two league matches, and he will be thoroughly disappointed.
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