· March 19 2025, 10:35
**Eddie Howe made the huge call to stick with Nick Pope between the sticks against Liverpool at Wembley despite calls from Newcastle United fans to go with Martin Dubravka.**
It was a call that ultimately paid off because, while Pope didn't have a great deal to do, he produced a stunning save when called upon.
Liverpool's Curtis Jones looked to have set up a grandstand finish to the game as he drove a fizzing shot goalwards from just inside the box.
However, Nick Pope had other ideas and extended his arm, deflecting the ball over the bar off his forearm.
David Seaman says that Nick Pope is 'quite rigid' in goal
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Speaking on his Seaman Says podcast, former England 'keeper David Seaman called it an 'unorthodox' save but admitted that it seems to be Nick Pope's style.
> “Save of the week… goes to Nick Pope – it’s a really unorthodox save, and it’s a Nick Pope save.“I saw him up at St George’s Park when I went to see Nick, Aaron (Ramsdale) and Jordan (Pickford) training. “I noticed that Nick’s quite rigid and he makes saves like this, and I saw him doing a lot of it in training thinking ‘that’s a weird technique’ – but it’s effective.“Nick didn’t even have a chance to get two hands to it or anything, he just threw one arm at it and it was his forearm that knocked it over the crossbar.“It looked a weird save, but it was such an effective save, and it’s about keeping the ball out no matter what.
>
> “Nick Pope, save of the week mate – and congratulations!"
Nick Pope was in fine form on Sunday
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It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you keep the ball out of the net, that's the golden rule of goalkeeping.
Nick Pope actually had a brilliant game on Sunday, it was a callback to when he was rock solid in 2023, even his distribution was miles better than it has been lately.
There was nothing he could have done about Federico Chiesa's goal, so we can't really take a point off for that either.