Ole: De Gea could be Reds’ greatest
OLE Gunnar Solskjaer believes David de Gea is challenging Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar to become United’s greatest goalkeeper.
The Spaniard made 11 second-half saves after Tottenham failed to work him in the first half at Wembley.
De Gea’s save from Toby Alderweireld at the near post was singled out by matchwinner Marcus Rashford as the standout stop, but he modestly claimed he could not remember his saves.
Schmeichel won five Premier Leagues, three FA Cups, the League Cup and the Champions League during eight illustrious years with United in the 90s, a period which featured two double-winning campaigns and the Treble season. Van der Sar lifted four leagues, the Champions League and the Club World Cup in his six years at Old Trafford, whereas De Gea has won the English championship just once.
Although Schmeichel’s and Van der Sar’s careers at Old Trafford were laden with silverware, Solskjaer feels De Gea could be remembered as United’s finest keeper.
“He had one against Arsenal last year but he should have held a few of them,” Solskjaer joked about De Gea’s performance. “But there’s maybe one or two fantastic saves and the rest was about concentration and being in the right position.
“We’ve had some great keepers at this club and I think he’s challenging Edwin and Peter for the number one spot historically.”
The triumph at Tottenham was by far the most impressive of Solskjaer’s reign as United kept a third consecutive clean sheet in all competitions.
Despite De Gea’s saves, Solskjaer feels the manner of the win highlighted United’s defensive progress.
“Team spirit, that’s the first,” Solskjaer added when asked what he had learnt from the game.
“Second, we can defend. Jonah [Phil Jones], Victor [Lindelof], fantastic with Luke [Shaw] and Ash [Young] next to them, we’ve got the best goalkeeper in the world, I’ve said that many times.
“And blistering pace up front and the goal was fantastic by Rash.
“It’s a hard skill to score from that angle with a right foot and an instep, I thought he was going to go near post but it was a well struck finish.”