If You’re Not Great With Your Feet – Ex-Defender Gives Newcastle United Star Advice | OneFootball

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Former Premier League star Stuart Pearce has pinpointed the problems Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope has, advising him not to come out of his goal, as he is not great with his feet.

Two goals inside the first five minutes of the second half resulted in heartbreak for Eddie Howe’s team at Marseille on Tuesday night as they lost the Champions League clash 2-1.

It all started with the Magpies goalkeeper, who, while sensing that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was racing on to the ball, rushed off his line to get on to it first.

He failed to do so and as he was caught in no man’s land, the veteran striker slotted the ball in to equalise for the home side after Harvey Barnes had scored the first goal for the visitors in the sixth minute.

Pope, who recently extended his Magpies stay, came under the scrutiny of Pearce, who feels that the blame for the 2-1 defeat has to be taken by the goalkeeper.

“He [Howe] must be [fuming]. It was solely the mistake by the goalkeeper”, Pearce said on talkSPORT (25th November, 21:59).

“It was even-steven this game, I would say on the run of play.

“But a horrific five minutes led by that mistake by Nick Pope just after half-time really killed Newcastle.”

Pointing towards the problem the six feet six-foot-six-inch goalkeeper has, Pearce added that he is not great with his feet.

“I made the point – don’t come out if you are not great with your feet”, Pearce added.

“You have got to be 110 per cent if you are not.

“The thing with him is that he rushes out; he is a big lad as well. The turning scale is not good.

“So by the time he puts the brakes on and realises that he has made the wrong call, it is too late.”

The loss to Marseille pushed Newcastle down to eighth in the Champions League league phase table, but with a huge 24 teams moving forward, there is little extra pressure on the Magpies at the moment.

Howe’s side have three more league phase fixtures to play, with Bayer Leverkusen and Paris Saint-Germain away, while PSV Eindhoven take the trip to St James’ Park.