Maybe in the future if we're title challengers Pope will be a decent back up option. Still miles better than Dubravka and Karius.
But again I think this is a fault of EH. We know his kicking is **** and he panics soo why play in a certain way that puts him under this pressure throughout the game?
Yeah it's not like he's ****e and if we had a him as back up I'd be buzzing - think you hit the nail on the head - he's a good option now and when he drops to back up he'll be a great option for cups etc. Think Howe has hoped he could improve his kicking but it's not working when he's under pressure (sometimes when he's not under pressure either).
Right now I'm much happier having Pope in goal than I would be with Onana. He is supposed to be the next big thing for distribution but looks so shaky in simply stopping the ball going in the net. I think finding the next Allison is going to be a tough ask so better stopper than distributor is fine by me
For 10m he's been a bit of a bargain. Solid goalkeeper in terms of preventing goals, but obviously limited in aiding build up play.
He was completely **** in his previous game to the cup final n all. Now I know the lad had a finger injury which required surgery, but if that's effecting his form then he needs dropped till he's better. Same with Bruno and his injured foot. That silly bugger should have rested up immediately after the season finished, rather than ****ing about with that Brazilian team to keep fit for the internationals.
I must confess, he's been making a few mistakes, and it's mass-ively knocked his confidence, it cannon be allowed to continue. He is good in way of the crosses, but goes for the hail mary when he runs out of his box.
Think he is actually just a bit thick. His thought process is a bit slow when he has the ball at his feet and it means he often ends up being rushed in his clearances, hence a lack of accuracy. Reminds me of Chippy.
Karius any good with his feet? Teams will target Pope now cos they know he's ****ting himself when he has the ball. You think he's having a 'mare now, just you wait!
Every modern goalkeeper is a decent shot stopper, in that regard I would consider Pope slightly above average. But as others have said, with his feet he's dog. It's became noticable ever since his red against Liverpool
He's also very very erratic in his decision making on when and if to leave his box. It's this and some of his general positioning which worries me at times.
Let's just remember here it's not like there are a big pot of keepers out there who can play with their feet like Ederson. Pope's done well for us. His primary job is to keep the goals out and we all know how good our defensive record was last year. Having said that Eddie wants to play football in a certain way, he's going to keep expecting his keeper to assist with the build up. It's the same as anything if over time he proves he's not up to the job his position will be looked at in an order of priority but don't start jumping on his back straight away because of a difficult start.
