David de Gea | 2011-14 Performances

[Escobar]

This season, we conceded plenty of goals due to mistakes by our players. Smalling not tracking his man against Basel, Jones in various games before, DDG etc etc. It happens, and more so with young players. But that doesnt mean we should ignore their immense potential and talent.

DDG will be fine. It's his first season in the EPL at 21, those who expected an immediate replacement of VDS were a bit too optimistic - like there was no replacement for Keane or Ronaldo etc

 

[Floyd]

Apart from the ones he lets in through his legs, under his body, at his near post, yes, he's a great shot stopper.

I agree with this. For a supposedly great shot stopper he lets in an awful lot of shots close to him.

For now, he's just not very good at this goalkeeping lark.

 

[el eric]

No matter how good of a prospect he might be, at the moment he's costing us too much at the moment. We could arguably still be in Champions League, and FA cup as well as being top of the league if Anders had have played the Basel, Liverpool and Blackburn games. I wonder is it worth loaning him out for the rest of the season as Amos in a better option at the moment and PiG are still there as cover and then letting him start fresh next season.

Very poor at shots low around his feet isnt he. I wonder are opposing strikers actually aiming for his feet at the moment.

 

[K Stand Knut]

No matter how good of a prospect he might be, at the moment he's costing us too much at the moment. We could arguably still be in Champions League, and FA cup as well as being top of the league if Anders had have played the Basel, Liverpool and Blackburn games. I wonder is it worth loaning him out for the rest of the season as Amos in a better option at the moment and PiG are still there as cover and then letting him start fresh next season.

Very poor at shots low around his feet isnt he. I wonder are opposing strikers actually aiming for his feet at the moment.

feck me, are you serious? Loan him out?

I was surprised to see him start on Saturday as I thought Lindegard had been doing well recently and helping us to look a bit more solid but to suggest loaning out our number 1 is fecking ridiculous. I'm genuinely astounded by this suggestion!

 

[el eric]

feck me, are you serious? Loan him out?

I was surprised to see him start on Saturday as I thought Lindegard had been doing well recently and helping us to look a bit more solid but to suggest loaning out our number 1 is fecking ridiculous. I'm genuinely astounded by this suggestion!

Why Not? give him game time somehwere else as every time hes strted for us lately he's costing us points/knocked out of comps. We've plenty of cover

Edit................ Dont think it will happen by the way.

 

[K Stand Knut]

Why Not? give him game time somehwere else as every time hes strted for us lately he's costing us points/knocked out of comps. We've plenty of cover

Edit................ Dont think it will happen by the way.

Why? Because it's a stupid fecking idea! He needs to learn and develop with the team that he is going to e playing with for the next decade (fingers crossed). Sending him out on loan would blow his, already shot, confidence to smithereens and would have a detrimental affect on his short-term career. He's at the best club with the best coaches to help him learn, he just needs to be patient

 

[el eric]

Why? Because it's a stupid fecking idea! He needs to learn and develop with the team that he is going to e playing with for the next decade (fingers crossed). Sending him out on loan would blow his, already shot, confidence to smithereens and would have a detrimental affect on his short-term career. He's at the best club with the best coaches to help him learn, he just needs to be patient

Would you keep playing him?

 

[K Stand Knut]

Would you keep playing him?

I'm not sure if I'm honest with you! Before Saturday, i'd have said not as I thought Lindegard had started to settle and as a result we looked slightly more settled. Ultimately, I think chopping and changing the keeper is a bad move but i see De Gea as our future so should probably start as many games as possible. I just don't think letting him go out on loan would be the answer as I think he is at the right club to develop best

 

[Pogue Mahone]

No matter how good of a prospect he might be, at the moment he's costing us too much at the moment. We could arguably still be in Champions League, and FA cup as well as being top of the league if Anders had have played the Basel, Liverpool and Blackburn games. I wonder is it worth loaning him out for the rest of the season as Amos in a better option at the moment and PiG are still there as cover and then letting him start fresh next season.

Very poor at shots low around his feet isnt he. I wonder are opposing strikers actually aiming for his feet at the moment.

See, I don't agree with this at all. Lindegaard has generally played in the easier games so far this season. In the games where he saw the most action (e.g. Newcastle and City) he was by no means flawless. He flapped at crosses, dropped high balls and scuffed clearances to opposing players. It just so happens that he got away with it and the goals he did concede he can't be blamed for (apart from, arguably, Phil Jones' OG)

We can't assume that if he played instead of De Gea throughout this season we wouldn't have conceded as many goals as we did. In reality, we might have conceded more.

Also worth bearing in miind that even if we'd played with the likes of Reina or Cech in goal we might have done no better. They've both made plenty of howlers this season.

 

[kps88]

I'd rather him spend the rest of the season on the bench than go out on loan.

 

[Orton]

No matter how good of a prospect he might be, at the moment he's costing us too much at the moment. We could arguably still be in Champions League, and FA cup as well as being top of the league if Anders had have played the Basel, Liverpool and Blackburn games. I wonder is it worth loaning him out for the rest of the season as Amos in a better option at the moment and PiG are still there as cover and then letting him start fresh next season.

Very poor at shots low around his feet isnt he. I wonder are opposing strikers actually aiming for his feet at the moment.

I'm sick of hearing that we would still be here or there. There's 11 players on the pitch for us and it's a collective effort, we are out of the champions league because we were not good enough in 6 group games. Pinpointing De Gea for that is just ridiculous. He's cost us 1 point in the league, also could be argued that he wasn't really at fault for either goal on saturday, but even then the rest of the team have responsibilities to do their jobs and they didn't create many chances anyway. Liverpool was always going to be a tough game regardless of who we had in goal. Not winning there since 2007 tells it's own story. This is the sort of crap i'm used to reading in the tabloids, on facebook or by some clueless bugger in the pub.

 

[el eric]

I'm sick of hearing that we would still be here or there. There's 11 players on the pitch for us and it's a collective effort, we are out of the champions league because we were not good enough in 6 group games. Pinpointing De Gea for that is just ridiculous. He's cost us 1 point in the league, also could be argued that he wasn't really at fault for either goal on saturday, but even then the rest of the team have responsibilities to do their jobs and they didn't create many chances anyway. Liverpool was always going to be a tough game regardless of who we had in goal. Not winning there since 2007 tells it's own story. This is the sort of crap i'm used to reading in the tabloids, on facebook or by some clueless bugger in the pub.

Thats why I said arguably. I wasnt saying it was his fault entirely, I'm just saying there is a possibity we wouldnt have lost the above

My point more would be can we afford to keep playing him for the rest of the season? We look more assured when he's not in the team and with a important spell in the season coming up and the title looking like going to the wire I dont think we can afford to play him.

 

[Floyd]

He could play the Europa League games, but Lindegaard must play all the remaining PL games.

 

[iSparky]

Its amazing some people expected him to walk into the team and be as good as VDS, benching him is not the solution, he needs game time. He is a long term investment

 

[Floyd]

Its amazing some people expected him to walk into the team and be as good as VDS, benching him is not the solution, he needs game time. He is a long term investment

Aye, but can we afford to give him game time now, what with how the Premier League is shaping up? He looks absolutely shot.

If City weren't around it'd be OK.

 

[Orton]

Some United fans are just so impatient. Too many people expected too much after VDS retired. Everyone was happy when we signed him and it's probably most likely that alot of people hadn't even seen him play before and just heard rave reviews of his performance against Barcelona. No young player is going to just walk into Manchester United and become the best goalkeeper overnight, it's a long term project and if people actually look at it this way then maybe the expectations will drop slightly. He's 21! not 31. Mistakes will happen and come as part of the package for ANY young player. Instead of calling for him to be dropped, calling for him to be loaned out, saying he's useless etc.. maybe some support would be needed for him as he's only just come here from a different footballing culture and is going to take time to adjust. People keep telling me he's this and that but i'm pretty sure these same people failed to give him credit when he actually saved us points during his run in the side when he was playing well, and gaining confidence game by game.

 

[relx]

What's with the current trend of posters claiming that de Gea's confidence is shot down? I doubt it'll linger on and he'll probably look forward to the next opportunity that he gets, while ironing out the flaws in his game in the meantime.

 

[Chabon]

See, I don't agree with this at all. Lindegaard has generally played in the easier games so far this season. In the games where he saw the most action (e.g. Newcastle and City) he was by no means flawless. He flapped at crosses, dropped high balls and scuffed clearances to opposing players. It just so happens that he got away with it and the goals he did concede he can't be blamed for (apart from, arguably, Phil Jones' OG)

He nearly cost us the points against Arsenal in the last minute, you just know if De Gea had flapped at a cross like that it would have bounced off Evans head and into the net. Lindegaard also single-handedly sabotaged our opportunity to get revenge on City, by letting them back into the game and forcing us to sit back and hold the lead, and I'm not sure I'm going to forgive him for that any time soon.

Apart from utter disgust at the sheer level of idiocy and fickleness on this forum, my overriding sense about this whole business is bemusement at Sir Alex. De Gea had an iffy start, and then was exceptional up to the Benfica match. Then he got blamed for Basel, even though the goal wasn't his fault, and then he was suddenly dropped for no discernible reason after we beat QPR. The Blackburn match was a mess, but it was a mess of the manager's making, and now he chucks him back in against Liverpool after doing all he can to sabotage his confidence? I've no idea what SIr Alex is thinking, but he's making an absolute bollocks of it.

My opinion is they're about the same level in terms of keeping goal, but that De Gea's distribution is another a planet entirely and so he simply has to play. He'll make the occasional error with his style of play, but the dropped crosses et al only happen when he's low on confidence, and he's low on confidence because of the manager's ridiculous decisions.

 

[Floyd]

Some United fans are just so impatient. Too many people expected too much after VDS retired. Everyone was happy when we signed him and it's probably most likely that alot of people hadn't even seen him play before and just heard rave reviews of his performance against Barcelona. No young player is going to just walk into Manchester United and become the best goalkeeper overnight, it's a long term project and if people actually look at it this way then maybe the expectations will drop slightly. He's 21! not 31. Mistakes will happen and come as part of the package for ANY young player. Instead of calling for him to be dropped, calling for him to be loaned out, saying he's useless etc.. maybe some support would be needed for him as he's only just come here from a different footballing culture and is going to take time to adjust. People keep telling me he's this and that but i'm pretty sure these same people failed to give him credit when he actually saved us points during his run in the side when he was playing well, and gaining confidence game by game.

I certainly didn't expect a 21 year old Spanish 'keeper to come in here and rule his area and be great on crosses from day one. However I did expect him to have the basics right and be a good shot stopper. He doesn't and he isn't.

So it's safe to say I'm disappointed.

 

[iSparky]

Aye, but can we afford to give him game time now, what with how the Premier League is shaping up? He looks absolutely shot.

If City weren't around it'd be OK.

Is there much of a choice? The alternatives are to keep him out of the PL and play him in Europa only to give him some game time but at the same time more than likely killing what little confidence he has left. Seeing people though saying they would rather see him benched for the rest of the season instead of loaned out is crazy. Making him sit on the bench will do nothing to improve him, we need to stop chopping and changing keepers every couple of games. Personally I think we either give him the game time or else loan him out until the end of the season and stick with Lindergaard

 

[BaldwinLegend]

Is there much of a choice? The alternatives are to keep him out of the PL and play him in Europa only to give him some game time but at the same time more than likely killing what little confidence he has left. Seeing people though saying they would rather see him benched for the rest of the season instead of loaned out is crazy. Making him sit on the bench will do nothing to improve him, we need to stop chopping and changing keepers every couple of games. Personally I think we either give him the game time or else loan him out until the end of the season and stick with Lindergaard

What is this constant worry some of you have about wounding his confidence?

He's a well paid professional - if he has to step down to do some gym work, sort his vision problems out and train so that he's accustomed to the game over here then that's what he has to do. Some of you seem to think we should put his pride first and play him to the detriment of the club. I think that actually patronises him - he's a good professional and I'm sure he accepts what he needs to do in order to be a dominant and reliable keeper for us.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He nearly cost us the points against Arsenal in the last minute, you just know if De Gea had flapped at a cross like that it would have bounced off Evans head and into the net. Lindegaard also single-handedly sabotaged our opportunity to get revenge on City, by letting them back into the game and forcing us to sit back and hold the lead, and I'm not sure I'm going to forgive him for that any time soon.

Apart from utter disgust at the sheer level of idiocy and fickleness on this forum, my overriding sense about this whole business is bemusement at Sir Alex. De Gea had an iffy start, and then was exceptional up to the Benfica match. Then he got blamed for Basel, even though the goal wasn't his fault, and then he was suddenly dropped for no discernible reason after we beat QPR. The Blackburn match was a mess, but it was a mess of the manager's making, and now he chucks him back in against Liverpool after doing all he can to sabotage his confidence? I've no idea what SIr Alex is thinking, but he's making an absolute bollocks of it.

My opinion is they're about the same level in terms of keeping goal, but that De Gea's distribution is another a planet entirely and so he simply has to play. He'll make the occasional error with his style of play, but the dropped crosses et al only happen when he's low on confidence, and he's low on confidence because of the manager's ridiculous decisions.

How on earth does the manager have anything to do with De Gea's error against Blackburn? It was corner, not a whole bunch of Blackburn players running at our goal unopposed.

I don't think De Gea was blamed for the Basle game either. It was the Benfica game where his feck up cost us points. Not the worst error in the world but a feck up nonetheless.

FWIW, I probably would have preferred that he didn't get dropped but I can see a certain logic in giving both keepers as many opportunities as possible and I don't think we can take it as a given that rotating keepers is the reason they've both made errors. It might be a factor, it might not. As per my previous post, this season has seen some horrible cock-ups from experienced keepers who have started every league and European game for their clubs.

 

[Bryan_Munich]

No real surprise to me either that Fergie has rotated two new goalkeepers, too much has been made of them being 'dropped' in the media.

 

[Chabon]

How on earth does the manager have anything to do with De Gea's error against Blackburn? It was corner, not a whole bunch of Blackburn players running at our goal unopposed.

He picked the team. A team full of midgets with no actual CBs in it, and with no midfielders to protect the CBs. He can't be blamed for the injuries, of course, but he also picked the squad at the start of the season.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He picked the team. A team full of midgets with no actual CBs in it, and with no midfielders to protect the CBs. He can't be blamed for the injuries, of course, but he also picked the squad at the start of the season.

The extent of Fergie's culpability in that defeat has been done to death on here. It's irrelevant to De Gea's decision to come for a corner and not get enough purchase on his punch though. I don't care if you're playing for a team consisting entirely of Oompa Loompahs, if a keeper comes for a cross the onus is on him to deal with it effectively.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Let's just say without looking at the scale of the fees, most would choose Lindegaard to start for us.

 

[Chabon]

Let's just say without looking at the scale of the fees, most would choose Lindegaard to start for us.

Aye, but based on what? He's played two big games, and made significant errors in both. One went unpunished, and one cost us a goal but didn't matter in the end. I think he's getting dangerously overrated on here based on very little.

 

[Commadus]

Seems like the berbatov debate all over again. He's either shit and useless or he's never made a mistake its either the defences fault or fergies.

Reality is he is still very raw as a gk and the question is in a tight title race you are relying on a young gk it can go either way.

 

[Trigg]

The biggest problem I have with the goalkeeping situation is the constant change. The worst thing you can do for is rotate the goalkeeper and the defenders. Granted injuries to defenders as forced our hand, and changes have had to be made but the goalkeeping one doesn't in my opinion.

I get that the odd game here and there given to Anders, a bit like we did when VDS was at the club. I just don't agree with the seemingly constant changes. Take the Liverpool game for example, De Gea hadn't played for a month or so and then comes into a game against Liverpool at Anfield. Thats a big ask for anyone who hasn't played any football for a month. Ill advised and something I think SAF and his backroom staff got wrong.

I'd like for De Gea now to get a run of games, say 10 - 15 or so and see how he does. His confidence might be down and out but the one I think he has got is character. He's never really let a mistake alter his own belief, even in some of the games he'd made a mistake.

For what it's worth, I don't think either of the goals against Liverpool were his fault. The first was a very good corner into a good area with a player unmarked. If anything he probably should have stayed on his line in hindsight, but hindsight is great like that.

The second was a mistake from Evans & Evra. One of which should know better. The ball struck low and hard. Again, not sure you say this was De Gea's fault.

 

[Jimy_Hills_Chin]

See, I don't agree with this at all. Lindegaard has generally played in the easier games so far this season. In the games where he saw the most action (e.g. Newcastle and City) he was by no means flawless. He flapped at crosses, dropped high balls and scuffed clearances to opposing players. It just so happens that he got away with it and the goals he did concede he can't be blamed for (apart from, arguably, Phil Jones' OG)

We can't assume that if he played instead of De Gea throughout this season we wouldn't have conceded as many goals as we did. In reality, we might have conceded more.

Also worth bearing in miind that even if we'd played with the likes of Reina or Cech in goal we might have done no better. They've both made plenty of howlers this season.

Exactly, Lindegaard does not look like a top class keeper to me, far from it. De Gea has the potential but is suffering from a major crisis in confidence at the moment. I think that the keeper rotation has been counter productive and ultimately a waste of time, we should have rode out the storm with De Gea. It doesn't help that the press have jumped on him since day one but repeatedly dropping him just adds fuel to the 'untrusted' fire. He is facing a big test of character at a young age, I hope that he can come through it and live up to his potential.

Seems like the berbatov debate all over again. He's either shit and useless or he's never made a mistake its either the defences fault or fergies.

I can't really agree with that. Berbatov was bought as the finished article, as the 'new Cantona', he proved himself to be a supremely gifted player, only one that didn't shine often enough on the biggest stage to justify his record transfer fee. De Gea is a young prospect, the amount of leeway that he should be afforded is much greater, the coaching staff and management have to take responsibility and criticism for his handling.

 

[marjen]

I'm not too much of a fan of the way SAF has handled the keeper issue this year. He stated earlier that De Gea was the number one keeper, and now he's just gone completely silent on the matter while handing Lindegaard the starting berth. That's obviously made for a field day for the media, and also taken a huge chunk of De Gea's confidence, which for his errors early on was still plain to see.

I'd wish he had just stuck with De Gea throughout the mediastorm. It is a sign of weakness to give in like that, and we know by experience that rotating keepers is not the way to go. It might break both of them.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Aye, but based on what? He's played two big games, and made significant errors in both. One went unpunished, and one cost us a goal but didn't matter in the end. I think he's getting dangerously overrated on here based on very little.

I think there is some statistic showing that Lindegaard has been the best goalie in the league... Anyway, Lindegaard made far less mistake than De Gea, no questions about that. He also oozed more confidence and more reliable by the look.

 

[Trigg]

I think there is some statistic showing that Lindegaard has been the best goalie in the league... Anyway, Lindegaard made far less mistake than De Gea, no questions about that. He also oozed more confidence and more reliable by the look.

I don't think a statistic exists that can show you that! I think the one you might be thinking of is a saves to shot ratio or something.

 

[Orton]

I think there is some statistic showing that Lindegaard has been the best goalie in the league... Anyway, Lindegaard made far less mistake than De Gea, no questions about that. He also oozed more confidence and more reliable by the look.

And there is a statistic that shows Park Chu Young is the best passer in the league, so what? Stats can be misleading. Earlier in the season stats showed that De Gea more saves than any other goalkeeper.

 

[RedRonaldo]

I don't think a statistic exists that can show you that! I think the one you might be thinking of is a saves to shot ratio or something.

Believe me. There's one I saw few weeks back, showing Lindegaard has been the best in the league by far.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I think there is some statistic showing that Lindegaard has been the best goalie in the league... Anyway, Lindegaard made far less mistake than De Gea, no questions about that. He also oozed more confidence and more reliable by the look.

He certainly didn't "oozed more confidence" in the previous round of the FA Cup. In fact he was far more personally responsible for a goal in that game than De Gea was against Liverpool.

 

[Trigg]

Believe me. There's one I saw few weeks back, showing Lindegaard has been the best in the league by far.

You're going to have to show me it then.

Only thing I can find after a quick google search is this. I don't think this show all that much though. It's a small sample set for starters and its a fair assessment that he's started against the 'lesser' teams.

I'm not trying to undermine Lindegaard, I think he's a good keeper. I just feel David De Gea is better now, and will be much better in the future.

 

[londonredmaniac]

Looks a natural shot stopper.

Not imposing enough and looks poor coming for crosses.

Most could have told you that before we signed him mind. He's young and developing. That being said unless he sorts out looking dodgy from wide areas he's fecked.

 

[marjen]

I do think Lindegaard is a very, very solid keeper.

I also think De Gea's got a lot of stick, a fair bit which is undeserved. As of right now, his confidence looks shot(no wonder the way he's been thrown out of the way for Lindegaard), but to me, he looks the better keeper ability wise. His distribution is great, and he's made some really, really impressive stops this season. His reactions are top notch. He also handles the ball much better than Lindegaard, when he catches the ball with his hands I've yet to see him give away an unnecesarry rebound.

However, he's made some high-profile mistakes which was always going to happen, and he is a bit slight when it comes to dealing with crosses. He needs to put himself about a bit more, and control his area better.

I've actually got few doubts that he'll be a top goalkeeper for us. But I'd ust wish Fergie showed the courage to simply opt for him through this storm, as he did when he opted for him throughout the early criticism. We'll be better off for it long-term IMO.

 

[RedRonaldo]

And there is a statistic that shows Park Chu Young is the best passer in the league, so what? Stats can be misleading. Earlier in the season stats showed that De Gea more saves than any other goalkeeper.

Well someone asked me on what basis I think Lindegaard should start ahead of De Gae, statistic is just one aspect I could give. Sure it doesn't mean he is a better goalie, but I do think he is better based on my opinion and impression of him so far.