Even the goalkeepers’ union could not defend Nick Pope for his Newcastle United mistake on Sunday.
The 33-year-old endured a difficult afternoon as Newcastle United lost 3-1 to West Ham at the London Stadium.
Nick Pope was at fault for two of the goals, with his role in Lucas Paqueta’s opener coming under real scrutiny.
The Toon number one actually made two errors for that goal. The first was deciding to punch rather than claim a cross, which resulted in Paqueta regaining possession on the edge of the box. The second mistake was the shot, with Pope inexcusably beaten at his front post.
Shay Given criticised Pope’s error, with the former Newcastle United goalkeeper admitting he should be ‘disappointed’ with his efforts.
It is a sentiment shared by Ben Foster, who has refused to make excuses for Pope.
Nick Pope playing for Newcastle United against West Ham.
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Puma ball no excuse for Nick Pope according to Ben Foster
Speaking on the latest episode of the Football Fill-in, Foster has addressed Pope’s role in West Ham’s equaliser against Newcastle United on Sunday.
While Foster admitted that the new Puma balls that the Premier League are using do move more, he is adamant that should not be used as an excuse.
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“He [Pope] will be so disappointed,” he said.
“We spoke to him on the podcast about the new Puma balls. Even he said they do move a little bit more. They’ll dip and swazz a little bit more. You can see it dips just before it gets to him.
“As a goalkeeper, you know they’re going to do that. You have to overcompensate. You have to dive past it. He will be so disappointed.
“But it’s a mistake and everybody makes mistakes. Simple as that.”
Why Nick Pope won’t use the new ball as an excuse either
As Foster says, he recently spoke to Pope about the Premier League changing their balls from Nike to Puma.
Given what Pope said to the former Manchester United and Watford goalkeeper, he will absolutely not be using the ball as an excuse for what happened against West Ham.
“You weren’t worried about it, but you were thinking it’s going to be an interesting first few weeks of the season,” he said.
“There’s going to be goals going in that people are going to be saying ‘How’s that gone in?’. It will be like the ball has gone 17 different directions and swerved in ways you would not believe.
“Now that we’re a few weeks into the season, you become accustomed to it.”
With Pope now accustomed to the new Premier League ball, he will not use it to defend his error on Sunday.
Instead, he will simply focus on the next game. It was a rare mistake during what has been an excellent season so far for Pope. He has been playing brilliantly for Newcastle United, despite being put under more pressure than ever by Aaron Ramsdale.
Toon fans are eager to see more of the loanee, while he will want more opportunities to prove he deserves a permanent transfer to St James’ Park. However, Pope has not given Eddie Howe enough reasons to hand Ramsdale those opportunities just yet.