Alongside discussion over our away struggles, the biggest talking point heading into tomorrow’s trip to Everton is who Eddie Howe will select in goal.
Nick Pope has been his go-to stopper all season in the league, but the former Burnley man has made errors leading to goals in our last three away games in all competitions, and Tuesday’s clanger in Marseille was the most costly one yet.
As expected, Howe was quizzed on calls to bring in Aaron Ramsdale during this morning’s press conference, and also hit back at claims that he picks his ‘favourites’ with a measured response to certain fan complaints.
Starting with his big call this weekend, Howe admitted he has a tough call to make and will “think long and hard”, but did say he is always reluctant to rotate goalkeepers regularly:
“All options, of course, are on the table for me. I need to think long and hard about who I pick. I’ll try to do that on merit. I get the luxury of seeing players training every day, including goalkeepers, so I’ll make my call.
“His (Pope’s) shot-stopping has been incredible. He delivers so many saves that it’s almost expected. The life of a goalkeeper is on a knife-edge. It’s been very strong apart from a couple of high-profile moments.
“I’d say you don’t necessarily naturally think about rotating a goalkeeper, at least in my mind. It’s a position of consistency and you want to give the defenders in front of them consistency and understanding.
“Changing goalkeeper is possible, of course, but doing so is a big thing. Certainly rotating the goalkeeper position is not something I want to do.”
The boss then talked up both options, hailing Pope’s mentality and shot-stopping ability, while praising Ramsdale’s displays in training, “outstanding” quality and energy in the group:
“Nick is vastly experienced. He’s a very level character. You don’t see him high or low. He’s calm and relaxed and absorbs it all, even when he makes world-class saves on a regular basis.
“You don’t wear your emotions for everyone to see. I discuss all the things with my players on a regular basis.
“Nick is a top class professional and an outstanding goalkeeper. We certainly back him. He’s made a number of amazing saves for us this season.”
“Aaron’s role here was to come in and compete and fight, bring good harmony and energy. He’s done all that.
“I’ve been really pleased with him. Nick is an outstanding goalkeeper too, so is Aaron. I’ve got two players to choose from.”
Then came Howe’s response to *some* fan suggestions that he’s loyal to his ‘favourites’ in the group, which the boss was eager to play down.
Howe insists that he picks what he believes is the best team to win a game and decides based on merit and performances in training, but does admit that picking his 11 and letting people down is the ‘hardest decision’ he has to make as a manager:
“There’s no ‘favourites’, there’s no loyalty as such. It’s about trying to pick the team that I think can win and gives us the best chance of doing that. And if that’s another player, then it will be another player.”
“Team selection is always up there for me as one of the hardest decisions you have to make (as a manager). It’s always about the players you leave out. Every three days you are disappointing people and players you love.
“Whatever you have to do, you do it on merit. Through training and games you make honest and fair decisions. As long as I can look at myself and say that was the right call to win the next game I’m happy with it.
“Of course, I respect supporter opinions but ultimately I am paid to do a job. I have to wrestle with my thoughts.
“It’s never a 100 per cent decision, there are always counter-thoughts and it’s never easy because you’re dealing with very good players.
“While I acknowledge the supporter opinion — I don’t really know (about it) as I don’t go there and I try to stay true to myself — but I have to make the decision.”
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