Agbonlahor lambasts Newcastle United coaches after ‘dreadful’ Nick Pope claim
The Newcastle United coaches need to work with Nick Pope on his kicking, according to Gabby Agbonlahor.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Aston Villa and England attacker claimed Pope’s footwork will cost him a place in England’s World Cup squad.
The 30-year-old will earned his 10th cap in the 3-3 draw with Germany on Monday night (26 September) and fumbled a shot that led to Kai Havertz’s late equaliser.
According to sofascore, Pope completed just 54 per cent of his passes and only saved one shot.
“I don’t think he goes to the World Cup after that performance,” Agbonlahor told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley.
“I don’t know what the goalkeeping coach at Newcastle is doing but he cannot be doing much.
“He was dreadful with his feet, he took that long to look for a pass and play it, a striker nearly came and took it off him for Germany.
“It was like watching a keeper from the early 2000s try and play like a keeper from 2022.
“He’s not built to play from the back, he’s not built to spread balls, he’s an old school keeper who is there to save shots.
“But then the penalty, he didn’t really dive properly and on the third goal, if you’re not great with your feet you can’t make mistakes like that.
“You have to be 10/10 for shot-stopping if the manager is going to pick you when you’re not great with your feet.
“He looked very nervous in an England shirt. If I’m Gareth Southgate, it’s [Jordan] Pickford, [Aaron] Ramsdale and [Dean] Henderson. I think Pope has lost his chance to go to the World Cup.
“It’s going to be more nerve-racking in Qatar than at home to Germany.
“For me, he was very poor with his feet and Newcastle need to work on that more.
“England have had goalkepeers that have amde mistakes in the past and we can’t take another one.”
In other news, Newcastle United are racing Everton to sign a forward and £29million will seal the deal.