2022 has been a great year so far for Newcastle United. They’re undefeated and unbeaten in their last six Premier League games. The improvements at the back have certainly been a cause for this.
Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn and Matt Targett all arrived in January and have made an impact. Unfortunately, Trippier sustained an injury against Aston Villa – a return date is unknown. But they were able to grab the win and then get a point against top-four challengers West Ham.
One player who is benefiting from this new and improved defence is Martin Dubravka. The Slovakian stopper is now having to be relied upon less in between the sticks. The back four are more effective at doing their defensive duties, relieving the pressure on the Toon number one.
Dubravka is a great shot stopper, but he can’t do it all on his own
The 33-year-old has been the club’s first choice goalkeeper since his arrival back in January 2018. He initially joined on loan from Sparta Prague but made the deal permanent in the summer, after impressing then manager Rafa Benitez.
Dubravka has arguably been the Toon’s best goalkeeper since Shay Given. He’s pulled off some unbelievable stops during his four years on Tyneside.
He’s made the odd mistake here and there, but he’s saved the Magpies more points than cost them. With talks of new players never stopping, a new goalkeeper is not very high on some fans’ priorities.
Whilst Dubravka is certainly a very good keeper, he can’t do it on his own. Before Eddie Howe’s arrival Newcastle were leaking goals due to a weak backline. The majority of errors were caused by the defence and not the goalkeeper.
But in January the problem was addressed and things have massively improved. The new additions put a little less pressure and reliance on Dubravka to stop everything and the kitchen sink.
He can now focus more on his overall goalkeeping game, such as commanding his area, distribution and so on. Mistakes happen in football but Dubravka is being exposed less now that Howe has improved his back four.
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