In Eddie Howe’s post-match press conference following Saturday’s painful defeat to Everton, the Newcastle United manager indicated that reviewing our recent goals conceded did not make for pleasant viewing.
I took Eddie at his word, and while suffering whatever mindless TV show I was being forced to endure on Sunday evening, I had my phone at hand and watched back every goal Newcastle United have let in this season.
The manager was right – but I am afraid the rot set in on this one far earlier than he has conceded in his comments.
For while the data might support his view that the defence started the season well with fewer goals conceded than our Premier League competitors overall, a more in-depth review of those we did let in tells just as stark a picture.
Nick Pope has, until the last year or so, been a good and dependable goalkeeper for Newcastle United. While Martin Dubravka performed excellently during Pope’s spell out last season, few could argue that the man from Suffolk had done enough to justify the manager’s continued faith in him when he returned to fitness.
But something has gone badly amiss with him since his shoulder dislocation injury and I am sad to say that the review of the goals he has conceded this season, suggests to me the problem is much more than confidence.
I categorised each of the 39 goals Nick Pope has conceded and this is what I found:
• Nine of the goals were, in my view, basic goalkeeping errors. These included his flaps against Arsenal and Brentford, his moments of madness at Marseille and Liverpool, his farcical attempts to save at West Ham and Qarabag and his hapless parry into the striker’s path against Everton.
• Six of the goals were what I categorised as “should have done better”. Not a direct mistake, necessarily, but those type of goals where the goalkeeper looks a bit slow off the mark or doesn’t seem to get a proper hand on it.
• Nine more were in the ‘Statue’ category. These are the worst of all in my opinion – goals where the only part of his body that moves as the ball goes past him is his neck as he turns to watch it go in without the slightest attempt to dive. More on that later.
• The remaining 15 were fair-and-square goals – he attempted to save them but was beaten by an effort he was never likely to stop. That’s football.
The goalkeeping errors have been far too frequent and I would be hugely surprised if any other goalkeeper has kept his place this season after being responsible for quite so many blunders. They would, in isolation, potentially point at a confidence issue, with their recurrence not exactly helping to remedy the problem.
Yet it is those ‘statue’ goals which I just cannot bear to watch. It beggars belief that almost a quarter of the goals Pope has conceded this season have gone past him without him even attempting to stop them. Yet that is a fact.
As just one example, look back at Liverpool’s winning goal at St James’ Park this season. The Liverpool player is given far too much space to pick out a shot into the corner – but do we seriously believe that the majority of goalkeepers would have just stood there while it went in?
I accept Eddie Howe’s point that goals conceded is a team problem, but defences are going to give up opportunities and it is not asking too much, that your goalkeeper rescues you in that situation from time to time.
At best, those ‘statue’ goals suggest a problem with his footwork and positioning – that Pope is so wrong-footed that there’s not even a chance of him reaching out to get the ball.
At worst, it suggests that he no longer has the mindset or physical ability to put his body on the line as every good goalkeeper needs to. I am afraid that is where I think the problem now lies with Nick Pope.
In reality, he has not been the same player since he returned from the dislocated shoulder injury last season. Even when he did return to the team, there was a nervousness about him which left a lot of supporters rightly questioning if dropping Dubravka after his good spell was the right move.
An injury such as that is bound to affect a goalkeeper – and whether it is that he physically is no longer able to make the saves he once could, or psychologically he cannot put himself in the line of fire so readily, is anyone’s guess. Either way, I believe that is the issue behind his rapid drop-off in performances over the last 12 months.
Those of us who are old enough have seen this before. I can vividly remember in the early days of the Premier League, watching an aged and slowed Neville Southall standing flat-footed and motionless as long range goals sailed into his Everton net on a weekly basis.
In his case, time had caught up with him and neither he nor a succession of managers could accept the once great man had lost his exceptional powers. In Pope’s case, the pace of decline has been far crueller and more rapid thanks to that injury.
All might not be lost.
I do believe the ‘confidence’ goals he has conceded (those nine goalkeeping errors) are likely to be directly linked to the same psychological/physical issues he is facing which have resulted in the ‘statue’ goals. If it is psychological, it can potentially be overcome.
Yet the one thing I am certain is not going to provide him with the cure he needs, if there is one, is being in the line of fire twice a week as the treadmill of Newcastle’s fixtures continues to pile up.
My view is that Pope’s time will definitely be up in the summer, but I believe the kindest thing for him to have any hope of sustaining a Premier League career beyond that, would be to drop him now.
I do not have enormous faith in Aaron Ramsdale either. While there were much fewer errors in the games he played (the second Tottenham equaliser at St James’ Park aside), not did he do enough to inspire confidence.
Only the Newcastle United coaching staff and squad know whether John Ruddy is in the physical shape to compete for a starting berth. However, having not played first team football since winning Birmingham’s player of the season in their Championship relegation campaign in 2023/24, he is not an obvious choice either.
Yet I do believe either would be a better selection right now than Nick Pope. He needs to overcome his demons, he needs to work on having the courage and faith in his own body to make saves again, and he needs to be able to do those things in the security of a training ground, not under the eye of TV cameras and a packed stadium.
Beyond this season is anyone’s guess.
There have been many calling for Odysseas Vlachidimos to get an opportunity, yet whether his status in the Newcastle United squad can be recovered is highly questionable, given he has appeared to be an outcast from the day he arrived.
What we do know for sure is that behind every good team is a good goalkeeper – so something fundamental needs to shift this summer to cure that gap, before we can even contemplate Newcastle United becoming a good team again.