Ben Foster says Newcastle have a player who gets way too much stick

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Newcastle United haven’t had the best of starts to this Premier League season.

Indeed, with an Alexander Isak shaped cloud hanging over St James’ Park for most of the summer, Newcastle have had a disjointed and slow start to this Premier League season.

The Magpies have won just one of their first five Premier League games, but it’s not all doom and gloom on Tyneside.

Indeed, Newcastle have one of the best defensive records in the Premier League, keeping four clean sheets and conceding just three goals so far.

However, according to Ben Foster, speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, one of Newcastle’s key defensive players remains very underrated.

Nick Pope gets too much stick

Foster spoke about Nick Pope and his reputation as a goalkeeper.

The pundit says Pope gets too much of a bad reputation at the moment due to the fact he’s not a ball-playing goalkeeper.

However, in terms of basics and fundamentals, Foster says Pope makes things look easy, even if he isn’t a modern ball-playing keeper.

“So many goalies get a bit of a bad rep, like Nick Pope for me gets a bit too much of a bad rep, right? He’s not this ball playing goalie and he’s a bit sort of one-dimensional. He is what he is, right?” Foster said.

“But if you watch him play on a Saturday afternoon, the amount of balls he comes out for crosses into the box, that goalies just don’t seem to be able to do anymore. The things he cuts out at source before it even develops to a chance or… He does all of that effortlessly, honestly, effortlessly.”

Nick Pope’s stats for Newcastle

Foster says Pope gets too much stick, and he’s not wrong.

Of course, Pope does have his fans, but others called for Pope to be sold over the summer.

The reality is that the 32-year-old is a very safe pair of hands between the sticks, and the stats show it.

Conceding less than a goal a game is no easy feat in the Premier League, but Pope has a fantastic record at Newcastle.

There’s a reason Aaron Ramsdale can’t get into this team right now.