Newcastle United slumped to a 4-2 defeat against Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday and Nick Pope has been criticized for his performance.
The Newcastle United goalkeeper has done a reasonably good job since joining the club, but was quite mediocre against Brentford.
talkSPORT pundit Jason Cundy was unimpressed with the goalkeeper’s performance, and believes that the Newcastle star just isn’t up to the task in terms of distribution. Cundy added that Pope is an impressive hitter, and his ball handling is also pretty good.
Cundy continued talkSPORT (17:51, December 7, 2024): “I’m not sure about Nick Pope. I think Nick Pope has been a great acquisition from where you were to where you want to be. I’m not sure that long term he’s going to be good enough.
“I’m not impressed with Pope. I just feel he’s too big. He’s like a giant oak. Oaks take a long time to fall. He can’t collapse fast enough, mate. He’s too big. Brilliant shooter, not convinced with the ball at his feet. He looks like a giant oak with the ball at his feet. Stopping the shot, catching, all of that, great.”
Newcastle need an upgrade from Nick Pope
The goalkeeper took 42 touches of the ball against Brentford and had a poor pass accuracy of 70%. For a club looking to finish at the top of the table and compete for major trophies, this is simply not good enough.
With most modern goalkeepers quite adept at building from the back, Newcastle will need 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 recent months.
There is no doubt that he is a quality goalkeeper, but he may not be good enough to start with a serious team that wants to compete in the Champions League and push for major trophies.
It will be necessary to see how the situation evolves. Pope have conceded seven goals in their last two league games and will be sorely disappointed.
