Manchester United striker Michael Owen took to twitter this to defend his under-fire goalkeeping teammate David De Gea this morning. He felt that the criticism surrounding the young Spaniard has been harsh and that he deserves a level of understanding.
“Don’t agree with all this negativity towards De Gea. Admittedly he has made a couple of mistakes this season but listening to some people you would think he had a nightmare yesterday. I’m not having either goal was his fault.
“The problem is, once you get labelled, mud sticks and now any tiny mistake is magnified. Other keepers make similar mistakes and nothing gets said. The ball was on the 6 yard box for the first goal. He has to go for it. He also needs to watch the flight of the ball.
“There is then 6 players in front of him. There is nothing he could do. The free header was the problem, not the keeper. He couldn’t do much with the second goal either. Is the problem not just a case of us not winning the first ball and not picking up a runner? In my opinion two bad goals to give away but to blame everything on the keeper is totally wrong. The lad will be a top keeper, he is only young.
“Harsh to blame him for everything. Must say, as you will be quick to remind me, I’ve watched a lot of home games this season! The support from behind both goals for him has been brilliant. The fans know he needs their support, his confidence needs boosting. I’m sure he will repay that support for years to come.”
I share Michael Owen’s sentiments. Criticism has been harsh on David De Gea. There have been many examples of top class goalkeepers keeping under the radar despite making some clear mistakes. As Owen said, De Gea is only young, has a lot of time to learn and he will be a top class goalkeeper.
Do you feel criticism has been harsh? How do you feel about the young Spaniard? Should he be allowed to continue in the first team? Feel free to comment below.
I was just about to publish the same thing, and echo Mr Owen’s sentiments fully.
For the most part, the criticism levelled at the 21 year old is wildly thrown around before putting the whole De Gea situation in to perspective. Certain criticism is fine, but it’s the abuse that some of our fans seem happy to throw about that isn’t.
Personally I don’t think that he is ready to be our regular number one yet, but I’d rather have De Gea associated with the club than some of the so-called “loyal” supporters who dish out the abusive criticism we’ve seen over the last 24 hours.
Like all i would of enjoyed a win yesterday but more importantly we did not need injuries ! We have been lucky in the past with EVS as goalie . I like SAFs faith in a blend of youth and experiance. However every flaw in De Geas game is exploited ruthlessly. We are walking a very fine line at the moment and a solid keeper is at the very least a must !
We must remember the lad is only 20 years of age.
Patience is the key here with David.
He needs to bulk up and build a more robust physique to handle being jostled, bullied in his box.
He will not have suffered the tatics employed by Liverpool yesterday Andy Carrol blocking him as an example, in the Spanish league.
To pin the loss on him for yesterday is absurd.
He is not responsible for ‘not scoring goals’.
You saw as well as I, who squandered chances.My gravatar picture is the clue.The fabulous Danny Welbeck, who had an off day.Which you have to excpect with ‘younger players’.
Its a team game.
You could point the finger of criticism for the second goal at Patrice for his lack of concentration in his defensive duties.
However Partice had a helluva great game overall, all things taken into account.
i think what has happen yesterday David De Gea should be criticise on him because as we all watch the match manchester united was dominate the all time the game and ball position,De Gea wasn,t having any problem there is no ball comes around him so why
is he not increase his concentration only at once it come he knew that patrice evra was having too much boaaaaaaaaaa so he deserve to get criticism not only certain creticesm him but also long time bench so he would be able to learn his mistake
Come On , Give this youngster some time to adapt . He is still new to the premier league . I believe he will become like VDS in the near future . Soon ……. Soon .
Just one point here it is totally wrong to blame everything on one player. Football is a team game and you win or lose as a team. Yes DeGea made mistakes but so does every keeper but as usual the press highlight only united players mistakes. Michael Owen is right to point this out. Let us stop this scapegoat culture.