Dropping your goalkeeper is changing your wife kind of levels and the repercussions…

Nick Pope is making the headlines this Wednesday morning and leading the Newcastle United debate.

Sadly, not for positive reasons.

Nick Pope had played really well first half, along with many of his teammates. Newcastle United coming under pressure at times at the back against an attack-minded Marseille, but at the other end, having plenty of really good situations at the other end to have scored more goals than the sole Harvey Barnes 6th minute strike.

However, all that good work coming undone when seconds after the break, Nick Pope misjudged a long ball played down the line, Aubameyang got their first and ended up curling in a top class finish from a tight angle.

They say when you concede a goal, make absolutely sure this doesn’t end up followed by a quick second. Only a few minutes though this did happen, no blame attached for Nick Pope on the second, another high quality Aubameyang finish but Livramento should have done better to prevent the dangerous low right wing cross and Schar less at fault but could have got closer to the Marseille striker.

The game turned on its head and Newcastle United couldn’t find a way back. As the second half went on, NUFC did get back on the ascendancy and dominated the later stages, but a number of half chances and decent situations didn’t produce the equaliser that United deserved from their performance overall.

Nick Pope

As I said earlier, all/most of the debate surrounding the Newcastle United goalkeeper, especially that key moment just seconds into the second half. Who knows how the match would have played out if Nick Pope hadn’t badly misjudged that sweeping behind his defence, which is normally one of the big strengths of his game. One thing for sure though, it certainly didn’t help!!!

Never easy to judge ‘What the Newcastle United fans’ think about pretty much anything, as the (relatively) silent majority can hold very different views to those willing to say literally anything to get attention on NUFC social media YouTube and the like, knowing fine well that the more extreme (and abusive…) they are, the more likely they are to get noticed, which in some cases equals making more money.

With this Nick Pope situation now though, fair to say that there is a genuine debate to be had as to who plays in goal for Newcastle United on Saturday away at Everton.

Whether you are one of these ridiculous Newcastle United fans prepared to throw abuse and hate at a goalkeeper who has been brilliant for our club overall these last three and a half years, key to getting to two cup finals, achieving two Champions League qualifications, winning a first trophy in 56 years….or whether you are one of those Newcastle United fans who simply think that this is one mistake too far, especially in recent away matches, so maybe time to give Aaron Ramsdale a run in the team?

Change the wife?

For Newcastle United fans at one extreme end of the debate, it often looks the case that after any defeat, they are demanding that half the team should be dropped and never seen again.

Which actually is so often the case for any team, they are never seen again, if you drop your first choice keeper.

The fact is that dropping your goalkeeper is changing your wife (or husband) kind of levels and the repercussions…

Well, put it this way, if you say enough is enough with your husband/wife and walk out or kick them out, it is very very difficult to say the least, to row back in the future and try to put things back together.

Unlike other positions in a football team, where players can drift in and out of the team at different times, this is far more difficult to do with your first choice goalkeeper.

It is a pretty seismic thing to do, dropping your longstanding first choice goalkeeper. With say wingers or whatever, it doesn’t even raise an eyebrow really, if poor form sees a winger dropped, then the replacement comes in and doesn’t impress, then after only one or two games the manager brings back the original first choice.

You can’t do this with a first choice goalkeeper and if you do, you are playing with fire.

If you make that huge decision to drop your first choice keeper, you can’t then put him straight back in if the replacement blunders.

If Eddie Howe drops Nick Pope on Saturday, then no matter what he has to stick with Aaron Ramsdale and give him a run in the team.

I have no worries with Eddie Howe playing Aaron Ramsdale at Everton if he thinks that is for the best.

What I DO worry about though is the reaction of a fair few Newcastle United fans if Ramsdale then struggles, especially if he makes a key error that leads to a goal.

That is the thing as well isn’t it, any error by a goalkeeper is so likely to lead to conceding a goal. Compare that to last Saturday and who is talking about Nick Woltemade and Harvey Barnes having two glorious chances each in that first half that they could and should have finished? Barnes got another two chances that were far more difficult and he expertly finished them, meaning he was the hero against Manchester City.

The thing as well is that whilst it was a really poor mistake by Nick Pope, there were countless other moments in the match that could have changed the result for the better, if Newcastle United players had made different choices and/or executed those decisions in better fashion.

Final thought

I suppose my message would be, that whoever Eddie Howe selects in goal on Saturday, we need to support and be right behind them.

This is especially so with Aaron Ramsdale, if he plays.

I have long been of the view that Nick Pope had to stay in our first choice team until I was convinced otherwise. Now I think there is a situation where it is difficult to know what Eddie Howe should do, I think both options carry huge risks.

However, it it ends up with Aaron Ramsdale playing at Everton, then as Newcastle United fans we need to accept that this is for the long haul, it is no try before you buy scenario, we need to be all in on this and back Eddie Howe and his new fist choice keeper choice all the way. Even (especially!) if there are teething problems…