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Media rip into Hornicek after ‘unconvincing’ performance as Newcastle lose to Coventry | SportsView
Newcastle United suffered a 4-1 loss to Coventry City, leaving the Geordies in 11th place in the Premier League table (W2, D2, L2).
The Magpies authored their own hardship when goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek gave away a penalty, tripping Sidiki Cherif before Jack Rudoni converted from the spot.
Newcastle defender Malick Thiaw also made a misjudged clearance that came back to haunt them. He and Sven Botman looked dreadful yesterday.
Toons boss Matthias Jaissle was unsurprisingly disappointed with how the game played out as, on the whole, they were not as bad as the result suggested.
The Newcastle head coach will be more disappointed by some of his players’ performances, as they didn’t show enough of their quality.
Matias Fernandez-Pardo is still searching for a first goal, while Joe Willock had a shocking game, and Jacob Murphy really shouldn’t be starting.
However, Hornicek was alarmingly poor between the sticks. He also opened the floodgates for the hosts early on. He was very ‘unconvincing‘.
Newcastle attackers struggled for inspiration in the final third and desperately needed their goalkeeper to stand up and be counted, but he failed the test.
So far, Hornicek hasn’t been the major upgrade on Nick Pope the Geordies expected. He ranks 12th among Premier League goalkeepers in expected goals prevented.
He’s managed just one clean sheet in six Premier League games and isn’t the authoritative figure the Tyneside club needs right now.
With Newcastle struggling offensively and defensively, we may not see the best of the 24-year-old goalie yet. He needs a more solid structure around him.
Hopefully, with time, the Czech Republic star can develop into one of the best around in the Premier League, preventing damage and not inviting it with costly errors.
Ewen Jaouen, his back-up, unfortunately picked up a hamstring injury, and if Jaissle wants something different in goal, he might have to turn to Pope.
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