One of Newcastle United's biggest problems across the last two seasons had been the goalkeeping department.
Nick Pope's drop-off post injury was rather drastic and, with Martin Dubravka being (somewhat harshly) moved on, loan signing Aaron Ramsdale didn't exactly set the world alight last season.
In fact, had Newcastle picked up the points dropped due to goalkeeping errors alone last season, the Magpies would have secured some form of European football. As a result, one of the most pressing issues that needed addressing this summer was signing a new No.1 to take up the mantle between the sticks.
The man tasked with that was Lukas Hornicek, who was brought to Tyneside for a fee of around £27m and, to be fair to the 24-year-old, he has been an excellent addition thus far, despite how shaky the defensive unit has looked.
Lukas Hornicek on top form
Of all the goalkeepers in the Premier League this season, Lukas Hornicek has faced the most shots on target with a whopping 56 in just four Premier League games.
In that time, despite conceding eight goals, Hornicek has managed to prevent the most goals in the division with 2.80. He also has the second most saves per 90 of any goalkeeper in the Premier League.
Compare those statistics to the goalkeepers of last season and his impact becomes more clear.
Pope and Ramsdale compared to Hornicek
Albeit in more games, Nick Pope prevented -3.50 goals last season, meaning he conceded three and a half more than he should have. He also accumulated three errors that led directly to goals.
In fairness to Ramsdale, he prevented 1.53 goals in his 11 starts and, according to Fotmob, didn't commit any errors leading directly to goals - although I'd be inclined to disagree with that. Ramsdale did, however, have a decidedly poor save percentage of 59% and, as I'm sure you all remember, never really looked comfortable when starting.
Put those up against the Hornicek statistics I just mentioned, considering he has had a lot more work to do in the early going than either of our goalkeepers had last season, and you begin to see just how positive the Czech's start has been.
Why Hornicek is so important
The reason that Hornicek hitting the ground running has been so important is simply that Newcastle United don't have it figured out yet.
By that, I mean that Jaissle's system is still under construction, new players are still bedding in, and the pre-existing ones are getting to grips with an entirely new club culture.
That has led to some disjointed performances so far, especially defensively, and if Hornicek had not been playing to such a high level, I think it's safe to say some of those points we picked up may not currently be showing in the Premier League table.
During a rocky period, one of the absolute necessities is to have a competent goalkeeper who can see you through those difficult periods and, for the first time in what feels like forever, Newcastle United seem to have exactly that in Lukas Hornicek.
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