Newcastle United are going to be without Nick Pope’s services for the next four or five months, and Thierry Henry has now revealed what makes him such a good shot-stopper and why it’s a huge blow.
Henry was covering Arsenal’s game against Luton last night and identified a key mistake made by David Raya in goal that other goalkeepers, like Pope, don’t make.
The Arsenal legend spoke on Amazon Prime’s coverage about how the best keepers will save low shots with their feet, the closest part of their body to the ball.
Henry claims Pope does this perfectly
David Raya made a huge error when going to save a shot from Ross Barkley. The Spaniard went down low but tried to move his body behind the ball rather than his feet.
The result was the ball sneaking under his torso and Luton taking the lead after netting their third of the game, although Arsenal would go on to win it in the very last minute of the game.
With Arsenal’s goalkeeping situation such a hot topic of conversation, it can really make you appreciate what a good shot-stopper Pope is for Newcastle, until you remember he is unavailable for five months, of course.
Henry used Pope, as well as some other top class Premier League keepers, as an example on what to do when saving a low shot.
On the coverage, Henry said: “I have been told so many times go with the closest part of the ball, which is your foot. De Gea does it, Pope does it, Schemichel used to do it, by the time you go down there, how are you supposed to save that?
“The ball is going to his feet. By the time you go down, if you stay, the ball is going to your feet easily but if you take it away the ball will go under.”
Pope’s injury is a devastating blow
As the news emerged in the last few days, Pope is set to be sidelined until towards the end of the season as his shoulder requires surgery, the same surgery that has kept Jacob Murphy out for the last month.
It’s just another injury that Newcastle and Eddie Howe will have to learn to deal with, although the timing of this one could not be worse with a huge game against AC Milan in the Champions League on the horizon.
Pope is coming off the back of one of his most impressive games for Newcastle and, like Henry says, he’s up there with some of the best, so it will be difficult to replace him.
It’s not 100% clear yet if there will be any movement in the January window for a new keeper, but for now Howe has complete faith in Martin Dubravka to step up to the plate and fill those enormous shoes of Nick Pope.
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