MIND BLAMES
De Gea has to get his head right and work even harder to reverse his slump in form insists Neville
He’s making lots of errors. It can only be confidence
DAVID DE GEA has been told to go back to basics and get his head right to “stop the erosion” in his form for Manchester United.
De Gea was savaged over Steven Bergwijn’s goal for Tottenham in Friday’s 1-1 draw and former United captain Roy Keane said he would have been “swinging punches” at half-time because of the clanger.
Now Gary Neville has said he feels the Spain goalkeeper has been on the slide for years and needs to work hard to turn around his decline. The Red Devils legend said: “He’s got to go back to basics. There’s only one thing you can do when you’re having a tough time – work harder.
“He’s making lots of mistakes. He was always somebody you could rely upon. It can only be a confidence thing. The arms, legs and body are the same, it’s got to be the mind.
“He has to do something to stop the erosion. Mistakes like that can happen on the first game back, but it’s happening far too much over the past couple of years.” De Gea, 29, used to be regarded as one of the world’s best keepers, but he is now joint-second in the Premier League’s table of errors costing goals this season, with three.
He won United’s Player of the Year four times in five years up until 2018 before his decline, and his continued poor form has presented Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a dilemma for next season.
Dean Henderson is due back at Old Trafford from his latest loan spell with Sheffield United and, although Solskjaer was pleased De Gea signed a four-year contract last year, some United fans would prefer the 23-year-old in goal.
Henderson is not prepared to wait indefinitely for his chance to be United’s No1 and no other keeper can top his tally of 11 clean sheets in the Premier League this term.
Solskjaer is happy to let Henderson remain at Bramall Lane for now and Blades boss Chris Wilder said: “I’ve had a chat with the manager and he was fine with Dean extending his loan until the end of the season.
“I appreciate Ole’s help on that one. Dean’s been great for us and we’ve been great for Dean.
“Hopefully, that will get signed off before the deadline.”