The Magpies were beaten convincingly at Brentford and the criticism has been fierce
Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope was replaced by Aaron Ramsdale at Brentford
Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope was replaced by Aaron Ramsdale at Brentford
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Newcastle United's 'tactic' of using Nick Pope to deal with Brentford's long throw threat did not work and the Magpies goalkeeper was 'all over the place' during their 3-1 defeat at Brentford on Sunday.
That was the view of Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, who has posed the question of whether Aaron Ramsdale should replace Pope as United's number one goalkeeper.
Pope struggled to cope with Brentford defender Michael Kayode's long throws throughout the day and got away with a mistimed punch in the first half.
With Newcastle 1-0 up, Pope attempted to come for a Kayode throw and failed to get through a number of bodies. Sven Botman could only head the ball into the path of Kevin Schade who fired the ball into an empty net with Pope out of position.
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And the Magpies' approach to dealing with Brentford's throw-in threat left Carragher scratching his head.
"Brentford have got the best player with a long throw in Kayode. He is the right-back and he goes over to the left to take them," Carragher told Sky Sports' Extra Time show.
"We asked Eddie Howe about it before the game and they had a little tactic they set up. Nick Pope, we know, is one of the biggest goalkeepers in the Premier League.
"The tactic from Eddie Howe and the goalkeeper was to have his goalkeeper not play as a goalkeeper but almost help his defenders to come and head it. He was almost like an outfield player who can use his hands. He is not on the goal-line, he is not protecting the goal.
Jamie Carragher.
Jamie Carragher.(Image: Sky Sports Premier League/YouTube)
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"So it was really interesting when we asked him how they would go about it but Nick Pope had real problems with it all day. If you look at the first one, he misjudges it and gets the flight of the ball. But what he does do well is realises it and drops back into the goal and gets himself in a decent situation and Newcastle handled it well.
"For the second one there is an actually a defender behind him on the goal-line. Again, you can see this tactic, that they want Nick Pope as well as the big defenders to come and deal with it. This time he does come for it and he just doesn't deal with it at all. He is all over the place."
Taking to X after the show, Carragher then asked: "Newcastle had a tactic of using Pope to deal with Brentford’s long throws, it didn’t work. Is it time to give Ramsdale a run in the team?"
Pope was replaced during the second half with concussion, as Ramsdale came on from the bench to make his Premier League debut for Newcastle.
Howe now has a big decision to make over whether he sticks with Pope from the start against Man City later this month, or whether to hand Ramsdale his chance from the start.