We’ll pull out
De Gea determined to cap season with trophy
DAVID DE GEA is hoping to cap the best season of his career by completing a personal quadruple at Wembley tomorrow.
The Manchester United goalkeeper has already won three coveted individual awards – he was voted United’s player of the season by their fans, selected by his fellow professionals into the PFA team of the year and has collected the Golden Glove for the first time.
But De Gea, 27, says the most important prize will be an FA Cup winners’ medal because it is vital for a club of United’s stature to win silverware every season.
Beating Chelsea, however, will not totally compensate for finishing runners-up in the Premier League, 19 points behind neighbours Manchester City. While De Gea has been satisfied with his own form, he says United must develop a more consistent winning mentality if they are to stop City from achieving back-to-back titles next season. “Yes, it is my best season with United,” he said. “I’m pretty pleased with my performance. It’s been a fairly complete, all-round set of performances from me. I’ve felt good, felt fit and in good season.
“Let’s hope I can continue the form leading into the FA Cup final and then into the World Cup, which is an important time for Spain.
“We’ve got a great manager. He’s very experienced, he’s won everything there is to win in the game. What he is really good at is transmitting his winning mentality to the group.
“However, at the end of the day, it’s down to ourselves – the players on the field. It is us who make the saves, create the chances and score the goals. So as a group we’ve got to form throughout the get that level of consistency and quality throughout the season.
“I believe that, for a club like United, even second place is not enough. We have to be fighting hard to win something and we have that opportunity on Saturday.
“You get nothing for coming second or getting close to the league leaders. In the end, you always have to be fighting to win something, as that’s what this club and the fans really deserve.
“It’s what United have an obligation to do – get through to cup finals, go on to win them, lift silverware and continue to make them even bigger.”
De Gea overcame a difficult start to this United career following his £18million move from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2011 to establish himself as the world’s No 1 goalkeeper in recent seasons and prompt favourable comparisons with his illustrious predecessors at Old Trafford, Edwin van der Sar and Peter Schmeichel.
Initially he needed to bulk up in the gym to be able to cope with the aerial duels and the more physical nature of the game, but the Spaniard says he is most proud of his consistency. He has kept 18 clean sheets and conceded only 28 goals in his 37 league appearances this season to give United a solid defensive foundation.
“Being consistent, playing well and keeping at that same level from one game to the next is the toughest thing to achieve,” said De Gea. “It’s always very special when people compare you to keepers like Schmeichel and Edwin who were at the club for many years – and very successful years at that.”
De Gea has proved something of a lucky talisman for United at Wembley – he has won all seven of his visits to the national stadium, including the FA Cup final (2016) and two semi-finals (2016 and 2018), the League Cup final (2017) and three FA Community Shields (2011, 2013 and 2016).
But he knows United will need total concentration and focus to beat Chelsea.
De Gea said: “We’re up against a great side at Wembley, which is a great stage, and we’re determined to end the season with another trophy,”
Second is not enough for United