Does De Gea deserve to be dropped?
If we were to level any sort of criticism at Sir Alex Ferguson over the his United tenure, it would arguably be that despite being the most successful manager of all time, there is one department where the great man has at times struggled.
Over the years Sir Alex has seen the likes of Eric Cantona, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Andy Cole and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer leading the attacks. Players such as Ryan Giggs, Andrei Kanchelksis, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo have provided the ammunition from the wings. Then we’ve had midfielders such as Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick, defenders like Denis Irwim, Steve Bruce, Jaap Stam and Nemanja Vidic being part of record breaking sides.
One area though that hasn’t been so consistently fulfilled is that of goalkeeper as barring Peter Schmeichel and Edwin Van Der Sar, Ferguson has often struggled to find the right man to occupy such a vital position. When you consider the likes of Jim Leighton, Mark Bosnich, Massimo Taibi, Fabien Barthez, Tim Howard, Roy Carroll and Anders Lindegaard have all at one time or another been United’s first choice goalkeeper that tells its own story.
Yes there have been some success stories- Les Sealey for example is still well thought of by nearly all Reds and is sadly missed by those who remember him. The two legends Schmeichel and Van Der Sar are two of the best keepers of all time, so signing them – especially the Great Dane- was a stroke of genius. Yet there have been far too many players who’ve donned the United gloves when they had no business doing so, players that were obviously out of their depth yet given arguably too much time to prove just how inept they really were. It’s a position that’s been fraught with problems for United for many almost half of Sir Alex’s 26 years in charge of the club.
Now we have a goalkeeper who could potentially reach the dizzying heights both Schmeichel and Van Der Sar did, yet according to the latest reports from Spain he could well be on his way to Real Madrid.
David De Gea has been dropped, publicly criticised, brought back into the side, dropped, brought back into the side and so on and so on.
Despite it being obvious to practically everyone who’s seen both Anders Lindegaard and De Gea play, that it’s the Spaniard who’s the more gifted of the two, Sir Alex seems unsure often ‘rotating’ them and even blaming De Gea for mistakes.
Could anyone really blame the former Atletico Madrid man if he demanded a move, after the treatment he’s had, his future at the club never truly assured?
It’s time for Sir Alex to give De Gea the number one spot ALL season, speak to him, let him know he’s first choice -even if he makes a mistake, enough of the ‘rotation’ we didn’t need it in 1999 or 2008 so why do we need it now?
Should De Gea leave then it may take the next United manager another cycle of the likes of Taibi, Ricardo, Goram and Culkin to find the answer to a position where gambling and taking risks just isn’t really an option. We bought De Gea as a long-term solution, even if he left at the end of his contract he’d still be nowhere near his peak and we’d easily be missing out on his best years.
Am I being melodramatic? Is lindegaard the better option? Could United simply make De Gea see out his contract till 2016?
Answers on a brick through the usual window- or you can simply comment below:
Albash,what you have all said is true,especially about nani,with nani playing regularly van persie,rooney,welback,harnadez will score more goals
De Gea is only a kid, but you can see he’s developing, starting to fill out, and he’s finding his voice.
Too many will concentrate on his errors, but he’s a keeper who has earned us points when he’s on his game, which he always is when he’s having a consistent run in the side…something only Schmeichel and VDS did before him in the Fergie era.
Agree with the post, some of Fergie’s keepers have been gambles. Barthez was a law unto himself, Carrol was appalling, and although he only signed the dirty Bosnich after missing out on VDS in 99, I don’t know why he didn’t give Van Der Gouw a shot at the number 1 jersey when Schmeichel left us.
De Gea is Spanish, and although being at United is a huge thing for him, he wont hold the allegiance that us supporters do for the club. If he’s not played properly, and Madrid come calling, he’s likely to want to go there.
De gea should be giving the time to mature. With is age I see him making records with time
Some of you are seriously deluded. Sure Fergie gets it wrong every now and again with signings and team selection, he is only human, but to say the man is losing it due to age is incredibly disrespectful considering everything he’s done for the club. He made United the biggest team in the world, we’d probably be nowhere without his guidance. I think he knows what he’s doing with De Gea, and he has to rotate the squad to keep everyone happy. Lindegaard would be a first team keeper for many European clubs, and he wants to challenge for a place in his national team too; Sir Alex understands this and thus gives him a few games accordingly. As for De Gea, the lad’s biggest weakness is definitely coming for the high balls into the box, but he is really young and needs a bit of time to bulk up and become more of a commanding figure. How many of you had filled out completely at the age of 21 odd? He is a fantastic shot-stopper with amazing reflexes, and with the quality coaching at United he can only go from strength to strength. Unfortunately, all goalkeeping blunders come under intense press scrutiny and it seems so many of you buy into this hype, I say get behind the kid and help boost his confidence or fuck off and go support City or some shit.
How can people be so disrespectful to fergie he has done so much for the club and deserves more respect. I do not agree with every decision he makes but he is much better qualified to make the tough decisions than the wallys writing on here if you want a team full of names with no soul or spirit fuck off and support city or Chelsea we are united and in sir Alex we trust!!
How can people be so disrespectful to fergie he has done so much for the club and deserves more respect. I do not agree with every decision he makes but he is much better qualified to make the tough decisions than the wallys writing on here if you want a team full of names with no soul or spirit f&@k off and support city or Chelsea we are united and in sir Alex we trust!!
I believe Fergie should give Nani a better contract. how can you be paying Ashley Young more money than Nani! sure Young works harder, but Nani can change a game with his creativity and dribbling, plus he can use both feet unlike young and his obvious lock backs. Don’t get me wrong Young is ok- good nani isjust better than. FERGIE PAY NANI WHAT HE DERSEVES! DID WE FORGET LAST SEASON?!
I am amazed at so called true supporters who critisize other supporters opinion. It is as though you agree with everthing Fergie has done. Any supporter who knowsw anything about football will tell you that Fergie has made a complete balls of the midfield. Why does he not get rid of Scholes and Giggs and save £250 thousand a week in wages and buy a top classw midfielder to take their place because every time Utd have conceded the first goal Either Giggs or Scholes or both have started the game, The midfield trio age 107 yrs. I rest my case
With the midfield United have and if Fergie does not strengthen it in the January window HE HAS NO MONEY
yea