Newcastle United news: Nick Pope has revealed he has been impressed by Malick Thiaw’s start to life at St James’ Park.
Malick Thiaw has enjoyed a very good start to life at Newcastle United following his £35m move from AC Milan. Thiaw had been admired by those at St James’ Park for around twelve months before they eventually got a deal for the defender over the line this summer.
After having to be patient for his first start in black-and-white, Thiaw is now a regular in Eddie Howe’s starting sides and has forged a very good partnership alongside Sven Botman. The pair have enjoyed some very good performances alongside each other in the last few weeks and in-front of Nick Pope, have one of the best defensive records in the Premier League.
Thiaw almost joined Como in the summer, but opted instead to hold out for a move to a Champions League club. That decision would change the course of the window for both the player and Newcastle United as they eventually landed a deal for him - one year after initially being linked with his signature.
Nick Pope’s praise for Malick Thiaw
Howe has been able to name a settled starting XI in recent weeks and whilst his attack have suffered from some disjointedness, his defensive setup has looked very strong throughout the campaign. With Thiaw and Botman in the heart of the defence, the Magpies have been very solid and for Pope, who has retained his place as Howe’s first-choice goalkeeper, he has already been impressed by Newcastle United’s summer transfer.
“Yeah, I really enjoy playing with Malick,” Pope told the Gazette.
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“Obviously, you know, certain things you do in training together and certain things you can't do. So, you kind of learn on the job and you get used to the experiences with each other when, you know, it's kind of a goalkeeper-centre-half relationship. So, yeah, I really enjoy playing with him and you can definitely say he's hit the ground running. He looks like a top player.”
As mentioned, Thiaw had to be patient to make his first start for the Magpies, with that coming at the end of September at the Vitality Stadium. On that day, Thiaw started as part of a back-five alongside Botman and Dan Burn as centre-backs.
Reflecting on his debut, and his start to life on Tyneside, on that day, Thiaw told BBC: “I'm one of the guys who always wants to play. But I trusted the coach that I have to adapt first to the team, to the tactics, to the Premier League as well. I think it was a good [debut] and I can keep improving.”
On adapting to the Premier League, Thiaw added: “I'm also a physical player, so I can adapt really well. But yeah, as I said, I think against Liverpool and today against Bournemouth, there were a lot of long balls, a lot of second balls.
“I'm used to playing [in a back] four, but I was on three, so for me it's not a big problem. I'm really flexible with this, with that I can play with four and with three, so it's not a big problem.”
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