Why De Gea is in no danger of losing his place as United’s No.1
NOT long after the questions had started, they were answered unequivocally. “David is, for me, the best goalkeeper in the world.”
Even though his goalkeeper’s monumental error could have gifted Everton victory, that was all Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needed to say for those in the room at Goodison Park to know that David de Gea will be Manchester United’s first choice for the remainder of the current season and at the beginning of the next.
Solskjaer’s answers in press conferences are not always the most sincere but there is no reason to disbelieve him here. The United manager has never given any indication that he believes De Gea’s slight but noticeable decline over the last two years is terminal. In fact, he does not even acknowledge its existence. The closest he came to that on Sunday was when admitting that his goalkeeper went “through a difficult patch last season”.
This campaign, there have been costly mistakes against Everton at home, away at Watford and now against Everton again on Sunday. Since the start of last season, no top-flight keeper has made more errors which have led to goals. And all the while, on-loan Dean Henderson has continued to quietly impress as part of Chris Wilder’s remarkable set-up at Sheffield United.
But for now, one thing makes any talk of Henderson returning from his loan this summer and usurping De Gea unrealistic. We are talking, of course, about several sheets of paper that have a lot of zeros printed on them and De Gea’s signature scrawled at the bottom.
The Spaniard’s new, fouryear contract at United was finally signed in September, with a wage of approximately £375,000-a-week making him the world’s best-paid goalkeeper. To say the negotiations were protracted would be polite. A year-and-a-half of talks is a conservative estimate. The first discussions began so long ago, it was when De Gea was considered the world’s best stopper.
De Gea is still one of European football’s leading keepers, capable of making a flurry of instinctive, split-second saves. But even his admirers would admit he has limitations which have been exposed as the sport changes around him.
De Gea is not a modern goalkeeper. He has never been especially comfortable playing behind a high line, regularly coming out second best in oneon-ones. His distribution was average five years ago, before tactical shifts and actual rule changes made it essential for a goalkeeper to be comfortable with his feet. His passing range is now considerably limited when compared with Alisson and Ederson.
And yet, United chose to pay him better than any other keeper rather than lose him. They bet big on De Gea, agreeing to terms which are likely to cost near £100m, and when you bet big, you cannot be seen to lose.
Solskjaer says if Henderson returns in the summer, he will arrive with every chance of ousting De Gea. “We want the best possible squad and Dean is our player,” he claimed. “He is doing really well and the day he comes back, he is fighting to play.”
But any clamour for Henderson to be given an opportunity ignores how he too would be harshly scrutinised if he were to make the same mistake. He would not have nine years of generally excellent service to fall back upon, either.
De Gea will be given every chance to get back to his very best.
That is the status and the position he has earned for himself.