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Opinion

The League Cup hero who looms largest on our march to Wembley

1 year ago
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Memories of Big Dan Burn’s amazing goal against Leicester City, Joelinton’s late strike at St Mary’s and local hero Sean Longstaff’s superbly taken brace in the semi-final second leg will loom large when fans look back on our 2022-23 League Cup campaign.

From my perspective, what will literally loom largest as the greatest contributions to our first Wembley cup final for 24 seasons, were made not by any of the aforementioned, but by the man who should be England’s No1.

I was fortunate enough to be in the Leazes End when Nick Pope unveiled his shoot-out masterclass against a stubborn Crystal Palace.

Nobody should forget two of our players failed to convert their spot-kicks.

Normally, that would spell disaster and elimination.

Our very own Pope, thank goodness, is far from normal. He saved not one, not two but three Palace penalties.

You might think Nick Pope (pictured above saving one of those penalties) made no great contribution to the quarter-final defeat of the Foxes.

Then, imagine for a moment you are Jamie Vardy, one of the top-flight’s best finishers since 2015. Twice you have only the Newcastle United keeper between yourself and a goal. Twice you fail to hit the target. Reports at the time said Vardy “inexplicably” wasted those chances. Wrong adverb. Those misses are easily explained. Just look at the height and width of Pope. He fills most of the goal.

And so to the first leg of the semi-final.

While we were undoubtedly and indisputably the better team, the Southampton keeper was for most of the match untroubled. In a 20-minute spell after half-time, with the tie scoreless, the hosts were on top and fashioned two excellent opportunities for Che Adams. Both attempts were hit hard and low, the first bent expertly towards the far corner, the second a snapshot from no more than seven yards. Pope was equal to them, clearing the first with his sizeable left boot, diving to his left to push away the second. Okay, he was doing what he’s paid to do, but nobody does it better this season.

Last night we were an irresistible force for the first 25 minutes, while Southampton were a long way from being an immovable object. We pulled them left, right and left again. The passing and movement were superb, especially for Longstaff’s second goal.

Then a careless pass from Joe Willock presented the unmarked Adams with an opening he buried into the corner of Pope’s net. Not even our No Goal Goalie could lay a glove on the shot. More than 900 minutes of Pope clean sheets were curtailed in the blink of an eye.

If only United could have quashed Southampton just as quickly. For the rest of the first half and most of the second, they disrupted our play, finding space where there had at first been none. The 3-1 aggregate advantage looked less than conclusive, especially when Romeo Lavia played a defence-splitting pass to Adam Armstrong, whose astutely timed run and neat control left him all alone with only Pope to beat. “You have only Pope to beat” is akin to writing: “You have only a wall to penetrate with a pop gun.”

Armstrong had less than three seconds for two touches with his right boot, one to control, one to push the ball forward, before he was confronted by our colossus. Pope did more than narrow the angle, he filled the space immediately in front of Armstrong. If the former United striker had tried to jink to the keeper’s left, at the near post, one of those telescopic arms would almost certainly have stretched out to clear the danger. And Pope, being Pope, covered the rest of his goal with his legs. Armstrong went for the open side with his shot, his third touch. It would have hit the net and made the tie 3-2 in the 72nd minute if not for the keeper’s big right knee.

The outcome would have been in the balance. Southampton would have gained renewed hope to add to their second-half momentum. They were enjoying more than 60% of possession, albeit rarely looking likely to score, but as Adams had shown before the interval, sometimes a glimpse of the target is enough.

Our midfield and attack were flagging, perhaps because of the non-stop running that had ripped Southampton to pieces in the first half-hour. No team can keep up that momentum for 90-plus minutes.

The predictable consequence was a red card for Bruno G when he mistimed a tackle on Samuel Edozie. The referee had already warned Bruno to watch his step after the midfield maestro had conceded two or three free-kicks only minutes earlier. Yes, VAR intervened, suggesting the initial yellow card should be upgraded, but this was one instance in which the officials did their job.

Accuse me of sacrilege if you like. Just ask yourself this: if that had been a Southampton player tackling a Mag in an identical fashion, would you have been satisfied with a yellow?

The loss of our best midfielder for the next three games is a severe blow to hopes of a Champions League berth. Some fans will be quick to shout we should not have let Jonjo Shelvey leave without adding to our options. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I reckon Joelinton can move into central midfield, making space for Alexander Isak, ASM, Jacob Murphy or Flash Gordon farther upfield.

And when Bruno G returns, in time for the League Cup final, he will have benefited from a lengthy rest.

Today of all days is one to look for positives. With Super Goalie Nicky Popey between the sticks, everything is possible.

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