I see a lot on here blaming Pope for it.

He was way out of position but it was a well worked goal from them when you look at it.

Firstly Vardy goes short dragging Tarky into midfield with him, which allows them to play the ball into that gap left for Ineacho (sp) to run away from Ben Mee and execute a great stretching finish.

Pope misjudged him getting the ball, but all 3 players could have done better.

I said on the match thread that it was a fantastic goal. I don’t think there’s much we could have done about it. Certainly a special goal.

I don't blame Pope at all. No way could he have come so far out to take or even smother the ball and couldn't stay on his line. It was just a great goal. It seems there's always someone for be blamed when we concede.

Pope got his positioning badly wrong and barely covered any of the goal. I think he just lost his bearings as he tried to decide whether to stay or come out

Well taken goal from the striker but poor keeping. Still all keepers make mistakes and thankfully with Pope its a very rare exception

I agree it was a good goal but all goals can be stopped. Pope came out but didn’t cover his angles. However, Mee should have covered or tracked the run. Tarks did what he should have done and followed Vardy

Imagine if that was Pickford making a mistake like that , and the comments on here

Itvwas a helluva goal ... I will not blame Popey for it at all.

Vardy dragged Tarks away and Pope came out ... It was just one helluva volley by Ihenacho took Pope out of the game ... ...

No blame game should be played at all

joey13 wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:22 pm

Imagine if that was Pickford making a mistake like that , and the comments on here

Wasn't a mistake.

Even IF Pope was to blame, which i don't think he is, then he's allowed an odd mistake given how exceptional he is for us.

Who would you rather have Pope or Allison

Leave Pope alone and just admit it was a great goal. No complaints at all.

Pope stays on his 6 yard box he doesn't score but I understood why he came out

Pope's positioning and decision making weren't good but the main reason for the goal was that it was a superb finish - the execution was about one of the hardest techniques in football.

Pope covering his near post leaving the whole of the goal wide open . Great skill by the forward but didn’t look good for Pope

No blaming Nick for that.
Just a piece of brilliant footy.
That and Kasper's save to keep Woods header out were the two outstanding bits that gave an excellent side a point tonight.
One of our best displays of the season, purely on football played, if not the result.

It was Pope's fault all day long. Excellent technique from their forward but Pope was way out of position and will be disappointed when he sees the replay. Thankfully his mistakes are few and far between.

It wasn’t Pope’s ball to come for, that was the mistake. It put him in exactly the wrong position to save the shot.

I’d bet he’s pretty frustrated at that one. As good a finish as it was, it could have been stopped.

Pope stays in his 6yd box and Iheanacho has the same situation that Vydra had for our goal. Same result inevitably.
Mee slipping as he turned is what cost him but I don’t feel he’d have caught him anyway.
Great goal. Hands up to it.

I think Nick expected the ball to hit the ground and come through to him. But it was on the strikers strong side and he risked the volley. The risk paid off with a wonderful finish.

I think he got drawn to the through ball and wasn’t expecting the player to connect so well. Would probably have had a better chance of saving if he stayed on his line. Instantaneous decision that a lot of goalkeepers would have made.

Leisure wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:24 pm

Wasn't a mistake.

Played in goal much ?

joey13 wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:49 pm

Played in goal much ?

Yes but what's that got to with it?

Leisure wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:57 pm

Yes but what's that got to with it?

You should know it was a basic mistake then

Leisure wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:24 pm

Wasn't a mistake.

Was 100% a mistake. He just got himself in the wrong position it happens. Just unfortunate that the finish was quality

Nearly all goals come as a result of a mistake.
It happens, if it didn't most games would end 0-0.

Pope had no chance
Our non tackling cm gave the Leicester player far too much room to pick the pass for the goal.Thats where the fault lay

Touchy people on this thread.

Obvious mistake by a very good goalkeeper.

If Pope isn’t in the fanzone then they don’t score

I don't blame Pope at all, but even if it's right that his positioning put him a bit too far to his right, leaving a big gap for the ball to go in, I think that was because in the heat of the moment he didn't think their guy would connect with the ball and was moving to where he would collect it.

Pope gambled on a touch and then the shot, that would have had him in position. He lost out to a fantastic volley, Would Barnes have hit that volley?

I don’t think you can blame Pope.

He comes out at the angle for the striker taking the touch, which everyone expected. If he doesn’t and the striker does take a touch he’d literally walk it into an empty net.

It’s just a phenomenal, 1 in 25 finish.

joey13 wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 9:01 pm

You should know it was a basic mistake then

This. He comes out at the angle for the striker taking the touch, which everyone expected. If he doesn’t and the striker does take a touch he’d literally walk it into an empty net.

For me Tarks was the main instigator stepping in too early. Not a lot Pope or Mee could do once that position was deserted.

No mistake, just a great goal.

I`m sure he called ` keepers` hence Mee slowing down but he was probably expecting the ball to bounce and if it had it was his all day, unfortunately he was undone by a great piece of skill hence being in no mans land, it happens, applaud the finish and move on, Popey hasn`t suddenly become a liability.

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:19 pm

Pope got his positioning badly wrong and barely covered any of the goal. I think he just lost his bearings as he tried to decide whether to stay or come out

Well taken goal from the striker but poor keeping. Still all keepers make mistakes and thankfully with Pope its a very rare exception

Nasty try but not biting.

Pope to blame!
His positioning was correct assuming the ball would bounce or Mee could make a challenge. The striker was too good on this occasion.

The pass it was the pass.........they come off once every 100 times, a great finish too.
Take your cap off and move on ......impossible to defend!

joey13 wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:22 pm

Imagine if that was Pickford making a mistake like that , and the comments on here

That's why i never want Nick to be England number 1.If Pickford got it wrong like Pope did, there would be plenty of media coverage slating him, whilst he's number 2 there will barely be a mention. Pope seems like a nice lad and who knows how he'd react to the constant media slating England's number 1 gets..

Im not sure how from the first photo you can say Pope should playing for the ball bouncing and not anticipating the possibility of the striker volleying it or even bring it down

When you then look at Pope's positioning on the second photo you can see he has come way to far to his right too early and is almost outside the line of the full goal

Yes it was a great volley but with Pope in the position he is it made it a massive target for Iniacho to aim at meaning he could just focus on making a clean strike on the ball

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:28 pm

Im not sure how from the first photo you can say Pope should playing for the ball bouncing and not anticipating the possibility of the striker volleying it or even bring it down

When you then look at Pope's positioning on the second photo you can see he has come way to far to his right too early and is almost outside the line of the full goal

Yes it was a great volley but with Pope in the position he is it made it a massive target for Iniacho to aim at meaning he could just focus on making a clean strike on the ball

Pope 2.JPG

So what you have to ask is why NP takes up that position.
A few earlier frames would be helpful.

Footballs a percentage game. 99% of the time. The striker takes a touch goes wider and Pope looks like a genius.
That over the shoulder volley was that 1% worldy.

Sometimes you just gotta take your hat off to the guy that pulled it off.
Lets have a night off looking for fault/blame.
Theres too much of that in the world as it is without looking at our own to pick at them.

Its poor.

boatshed bill wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 11:00 pm

So what you have to ask is why NP takes up that position.
A few earlier frames would be helpful.

It looks like he initially misjudges the flight of the ball and comes out quick as if its going to carry an extra 5 yards. He then realises he isnt going to get it so just stops and looks to make himself big and hard to beat. Unfortunately his initial error of misjudging the flight and coming out towards where he thinks the ball will land leaves himself in an awful position to block the shot

Pope's made a mistake, got himself in a poor position and as a result has made it a lot easier for them to score. The key thing to focus on for me is that keeping is not easy and it says a lot when it is so unusual and surprising to be talking about a Pope error as he is so consistent and reliable

I dont think anyone has set out to have a go at Pope but when discussing the main incidents people are just going to say it like it is in the same way we discuss Vydra missing a sitter or a defender losing their man

The reason I think this has become a bigger talking point than it should be is because some have become desperate to defend Pope (not aimed at everyone cos some just have a different opinion and are not just being ultra defensive) when it just seems a open and shut case of him getting it wrong

Even if Pope had been in the right place (a yard or so to his left) the ball would still have gone in, unless it happened to hit his foot.

Remember Pope didn't know that the man was going to hit it first time. if he had known that, he would have played it differently.

Iheanacho is a flat out bum and couldn’t replicate that ever again in his life. It was just one of those goals. It happens.

dsr wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 11:22 pm

Even if Pope had been in the right place (a yard or so to his left) the ball would still have gone in, unless it happened to hit his foot.

Remember Pope didn't know that the man was going to hit it first time. if he had known that, he would have played it differently.

If Pope would have read the initial flight of the ball better he would not have rushed out and would have been around the 6 yard line and more to the center of the goal. In that scenario it would have been an easy save despite Iheanacho's brilliant technique and strike.

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 11:29 pm

If Pope would have read the initial flight of the ball better he would not have rushed out and would have been around the 6 yard line and more to the center of the goal. In that scenario it would have been an easy save despite Iheanacho's brilliant technique and strike.

I think some are defending Pope purely because some are determined to make him responsible.
tomorrow I will watch it again with an open mind.
Like I said earlier, almost all goals are scored because of mistakes.

boatshed bill wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 11:32 pm

I think some are defending Pope purely because some are determined to make him responsible.
tomorrow I will watch it again with an open mind.
Like I said earlier, almost all goals are scored because of mistakes.

Yep, I know what you mean these things become a battle where people will make their mind up and then look to manipulate the facts to prove their point instead of looking at the facts/info and then forming their opinion based on what theyve seen and not what they want it to be

Pickford Would have have kept it out.......Imo

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 03, 2021 11:29 pm

If Pope would have read the initial flight of the ball better he would not have rushed out and would have been around the 6 yard line and more to the center of the goal. In that scenario it would have been an easy save despite Iheanacho's brilliant technique and strike.

If a very hard hit shot from 10 yards away is easy to save, it makes you wonder how anyone ever scores a penalty.

Schmeichel was stood in the right place for Vydra's shot, and he also failed to make the "easy save".

When you say that Pope should have stood further back, is that in the knowledge that the forward was going to volley it, or should he have been on the six yard box in the case of the man taking a touch and then shooting?

It’s a mistake by Pope, not sure how it can be claimed otherwise. It’s also a mistake by Mee. It’s also a very very good finish. All three factors played a part in the goal.

FWIW I think Pope has been given more responsibility of late to play the sweeper keeper role and mop up behind Mee and Tarks. It must be said that he’s done it really well. On this occasion however he misjudged the ball over the top and got his angles wrong. Had he stayed on his line there’s every chance he would have saved it. It’s no biggy, we knew he wasn’t god despite him making very few errors.