[Snow]

How could he have saved the first? Even the commentator was saying he had no chance. It was a powerful header just inside the post. No keeper would have saved that.

Because it wasn't that far from him. From the direction the ball was coming and the way the attacker was standing it was highly likely that the ball was going to end up where it did. I'm not faulting him for the goal. It was an example of a goal he's conceded this season that he could have saved. He hasn't done a lot of saving this season.

Even the commentator said? I'm sorry but what the commentator says doesn't matter at all.

 

[In Rainbows]

Here's a context. They're all from competitive games played against Premier League opposition.

And De Gea also had the fewest mistakes leading to goals.

 

[Lynk]

When was the last time Dave saved a penalty? Honestly every time the opponent gets one I feel it's a nailed on goal.



I feel bad critiicizing him because he's one of my favourite players but still.

 

[Samid]

When was the last time Dave saved a penalty? Honestly every time the opponent gets one I feel it's a nailed on goal.

Saved two penalties vs Sunderland in January. Before that was in the 8-2 vs Arsenal (in his defence we didn't concede a PL penalty in 12/13).

 

[BennyBlanco]

I am of the impression recently that he does not let in bad goals, but his inability to stop anything that is a good shot on goal, great goalkeepers all have this ability

Thats my take on him, basically, everytime there's any type of half decent shot against our goal these days I think it's in, he also still seems glued to his line far too often for my liking,
No he doesn't make horrendous mistakes but so often I feel like he could be doing more, much more in order to keep hold this "best keeper in the PL" tag he seems to have picked up on here.

This is the first time I've felt like I could actually say something slightly negative on DDG without 100 Caf fanboi's (for lack of a better term, apologies in advance for any offense it may cause) instantly jumping down my throat.

 

[sullydnl]

I have a suspicion that he could be more vocal in organizing the defence but, beyond that, I don't think he's done much wrong this season. Solid goalkeeper.

That said, this is someone we like to think is maybe the best in the PL and one of the best in the world. Being "solid" isn't quite good enough, is it?

So yeah, hopefully he improves as the season goes on. It would be particularly nice if he could learn how to save penalties...

 

[Redo91]

Because it wasn't that far from him. From the direction the ball was coming and the way the attacker was standing it was highly likely that the ball was going to end up where it did. I'm not faulting him for the goal. It was an example of a goal he's conceded this season that he could have saved. He hasn't done a lot of saving this season.

Even the commentator said? I'm sorry but what the commentator says doesn't matter at all.

His weight was going the other way and the ball was headed back across him. It could have been glanced towards the far corner so it wasn't obvious where the ball was going to go. With the power on the header it was past him so quick that it was impossible for him to move his feet and dive back in the direction opposite to which he was moving.

The commentators opinion doesn't matter at all? Why is that? I can just as easily say that what you say doesn't matter at all. No offence but I would be more inclined to listen to someone whose job involves football than you.

 

[izec]

He reminds me of Cillessen, 20 penalties and hasnt saved one. I dont know his penalty statistics, but it reflects his confidence overall. On another note, what happened to the deal with Romero? Maybe we will be back for him in Januray, De Gea needs some serious competition, even though i dont rate the guy.

 

[justboy68]

Here's a theory: De Gea's shot stopping has regressed due to working so much on the other areas of his game and piling on some muscle. He's vastly improved in those areas in recent years. He still sticks to his line a bit too much for my liking because that's the kind of keeper he's always been. However aerially and in general reliability he's come on leaps and bounds. That mixup in the QPR game was the first real mistake I can recall from him for ages.

We must remember he's still only 23 which is absolutely no age for a keeper. I imagine he's working more now on becoming more of a sweeper keeper as such a high defensive line really demands it. Eventually he'll be a great well rounded keeper. I do think the bread and butter shot stopping ability has taken a back seat though and he doesn't seem to stop many decent shots from going in which leave you thinking "Feck me, how has he done that?" these days. He was pulling them out every couple of weeks at one point.

Period of poor form. Still Developing. Will be good in the short term when he rediscovers his form. Will be great in the long term.

 

[iBoss]

Here's a context. They're all from competitive games played against Premier League opposition.

Okay, now how about context in terms of which of these shots are actually saveable? The players taking these shots? The defence in front of him? Manchester United as a defensive unit? Stats won't tell you this.

 

[REJE]

A goood keeper needs good defenders. People can't expect him to save shots that shouldn't have even happened every game and keep us in it.

 

[Bojan11]

I said it first and I'd say it again. Should either tell Evans or Rafael to pick up the only Leicester player in the box for the first goal.

We just have no leaders at the back.

 

[jojojo]

When he first joined us he went through a phase where he seemed hesitant, a less effective player than he'd been at Atletico the year before. I put it down to him learning a new system of play, in effect he was overriding his instincts to try and follow instructions.

It feels like it's happening again now. He's more experienced so he's less likely to make a mistake, but he's also not quite trusting his instincts, so he's that bit slower and the miracle saves aren't happening either. Of course a lot of it's down to having a bunch of ever-changing strangers in front of him. I know some would argue that he should be organising them, but that doesn't work if he's having to think about his own positioning.

I do wonder if he's one of the players who has suffered by changing coaches three times in 18 months. Some parts of his game improved last year (like claiming the ball) but others regressed (like distribution). It might take a couple more moths before it all comes together again, but I'm an optimist, I think he'll end up stronger.

 

[Litch]

Thank you for this. You've provided terrific insight into why you think I was wrong

Wasn't providing you with anything other than it's a view of no value.

 

[harms]

He reminds me of Cillessen, 20 penalties and hasnt saved one. I dont know his penalty statistics, but it reflects his confidence overall. On another note, what happened to the deal with Romero? Maybe we will be back for him in Januray, De Gea needs some serious competition, even though i dont rate the guy.

He saved one from Van Persie in the famous 8:2. I don't think that he saved another one for us.

 

[Darwin09]

I always thought DDG has gotten off lightly on this forum relative to almost every other player. I think he's been great over the past few seasons at not making big and obvious mistakes. HOWEVER, as people seem to be noting especially after Leicester, he has never really seemed to me to pull off the big game-saving stops. I mean how many times did Van Der Sar come up with BIG saves in BIG games that probably SHOULD have been goals? I remember plenty. On the other hand, especially last season, despite the poor results, we actually dominated possession most games only to be pipped by a counterattack goal and end up losing. Several of these matches saw our opponent's keeper have the match of his life, then we'd get caught out and their one shot all game ends up in the net. This is why I found it a bit difficult to understand why so many voted for DDG as POTY last season (I guess there were no other contenders in such a poor season). But the reality is I think we need to see some unexpected saves more frequently, because many of those are as good as 3 points.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

I always thought DDG has gotten off lightly on this forum relative to almost every other player. I think he's been great over the past few seasons at not making big and obvious mistakes. HOWEVER, as people seem to be noting especially after Leicester, he has never really seemed to me to pull off the big game-saving stops. I mean how many times did Van Der Sar come up with BIG saves in BIG games that probably SHOULD have been goals? I remember plenty. On the other hand, especially last season, despite the poor results, we actually dominated possession most games only to be pipped by a counterattack goal and end up losing. Several of these matches saw our opponent's keeper have the match of his life, then we'd get caught out and their one shot all game ends up in the net. This is why I found it a bit difficult to understand why so many voted for DDG as POTY last season (I guess there were no other contenders in such a poor season). But the reality is I think we need to see some unexpected saves more frequently, because many of those are as good as 3 points.

He made a few match winning saves last season.

 

[Lennon7]

Probably won't be leaving but who knows really?

Maybe he wants to go back to athletic seen as though they are on the up now with great players and great young manager.

Real Madrid need a new keeper too Casillas isn't getting any younger and navas is really a rotation keeper not a number 1. Don't think he'll go being an athletic boy but who knows?. Surely for any spanish youth player barca and real are the "dream".

He's got a lot of Spanish speaking friends at United though, some who he's known from his youth teams like Mata and Herrera. All seem to be enjoying themselves at united and I'm sure they understand the situation we're in.

 

[Carl]

So harsh to blame De Gea. Couldn't have done a thing about any of the goals.

He's biggest fault is still communication and not coming when he sometimes should but just consider how many different CB combinations he's played with and imagine the difficulty you'd have as a GK in that situation.

Once we finally get a settled back 4 we'll be back to seeing Dave at his best.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

So harsh to blame De Gea. Couldn't have done a thing about any of the goals.

He's biggest fault is still communication and not coming when he sometimes should but just consider how many different CB combinations he's played with and imagine the difficulty you'd have as a GK in that situation.

Once we finally get a settled back 4 we'll be back to seeing Dave at his best.

Don't you know we're not meant to post sense the week following a defeat?

 

[SirFergie]

Wasn't providing you with anything other than it's a view of no value.

Yeah course. Has nothing to do with the fact you have nothing worthy to say. Nevermind though. Clown.

 

[Red Shorts]

So harsh to blame De Gea. Couldn't have done a thing about any of the goals.

He's biggest fault is still communication and not coming when he sometimes should but just consider how many different CB combinations he's played with and imagine the difficulty you'd have as a GK in that situation.

Once we finally get a settled back 4 we'll be back to seeing Dave at his best.

Quite. The most balanced post I have seen since the defeat in fact of de Gea.

 

[Snow]

His weight was going the other way and the ball was headed back across him. It could have been glanced towards the far corner so it wasn't obvious where the ball was going to go. With the power on the header it was past him so quick that it was impossible for him to move his feet and dive back in the direction opposite to which he was moving.

The commentators opinion doesn't matter at all? Why is that? I can just as easily say that what you say doesn't matter at all. No offence but I would be more inclined to listen to someone whose job involves football than you.

It doesn't matter as an argument. Just because someone said something doesn't make the argument stronger.

It wasn't impossible. DDG was less than 2m from the post. He was almost as close to the post as he was to the middle of the goal.
He was also nowhere to be seen when Varny scored his goal. Came barely outside the 6 yard box. Way too late to have any chance of saving.

He isn't a problem but so far this season there aren't any positives from him either.

 

[MoneyMay]

De Gea's shot-stopping is excellent, but his decision making needs improving. He deserves to be criticised - though not to the point where we're re-writing history - and not all the blame should be on our defence, IMO. In a high line and a completely different system to what Ferguson and Moyes played, his weaknesses were going to be exposed. He needs to improve on his communication skills, show more authority, and come out and sweep instead of rely on his defenders to do the work for him - he should be in complete control of his box. However, he is adapting to a different system just like the rest of our players and he's been unfortunate that we haven't had a settled defence, which isn't an excuse for his poor communication skills. He's had three different goalkeeping coaches since he joined us, and I'm pretty sure that Frans Hoek is going to need more than a couple of months to help De Gea with his weaknesses.

Edit - Hoek's vision which is something new to De Gea and takes more than a month to get used to:

The nature of his previous jobs means Hoek has plenty of experience in managing keepers through domestic seasons and big European games, which the Reds will obviously be aiming to get back to.

But rather than isolate the keepers, the Dutchman believes in treating them as part of the team.

"My vision always has been we need to practise what we see in the game," he said. "So basically the game is the best practice ever.

"But it's 11 vs 11 - the amount of repetitions that they they'll face there is minimum.

"To improve that we have to create situation in which they get more situations to practice their strong or weak points. So the base is always the game, always, and the practice is as close as possible to that game.

"He has to perform with them against other players so you need to prepare him for that."

 

[surf]

What was he doing for the fourth goal? Nothing much. You feel he could be more proactive with one on ones, like Neuer is.

 

[Maroo]

I do wonder if he's one of the players who has suffered by changing coaches three times in 18 months. Some parts of his game improved last year (like claiming the ball) but others regressed (like distribution). It might take a couple more moths before it all comes together again, but I'm an optimist, I think he'll end up stronger.

Good point, I buy into that theory.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

His shot stopping seems to have regressed. Every team needs their keeper bailing them out here and there.

 

[AKDevil]

What was he doing for the fourth goal? Nothing much. You feel he could be more proactive with one on ones, like Neuer is.

Agree. As a keeper, should especially relish 1on1s and pens. Chance to come out on top in an odds against situation. He did nothing. If anything made himself smaller and just hoped ball would hit him.

 

[Mali_Zeus]

I always thought DDG has gotten off lightly on this forum relative to almost every other player. I think he's been great over the past few seasons at not making big and obvious mistakes. HOWEVER, as people seem to be noting especially after Leicester, he has never really seemed to me to pull off the big game-saving stops. I mean how many times did Van Der Sar come up with BIG saves in BIG games that probably SHOULD have been goals? I remember plenty. On the other hand, especially last season, despite the poor results, we actually dominated possession most games only to be pipped by a counterattack goal and end up losing. Several of these matches saw our opponent's keeper have the match of his life, then we'd get caught out and their one shot all game ends up in the net. This is why I found it a bit difficult to understand why so many voted for DDG as POTY last season (I guess there were no other contenders in such a poor season). But the reality is I think we need to see some unexpected saves more frequently, because many of those are as good as 3 points.

Rewriting history I see.

He saved one from Van Persie in the famous 8:2. I don't think that he saved another one for us.

2 vs Sunderland in January.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

So harsh to blame De Gea. Couldn't have done a thing about any of the goals.

He's biggest fault is still communication and not coming when he sometimes should but just consider how many different CB combinations he's played with and imagine the difficulty you'd have as a GK in that situation.

Once we finally get a settled back 4 we'll be back to seeing Dave at his best.

Sorry but that's just wrong.

Look at the two clips in this post.

I know that goalkeeping is kind of specialised, so anyone who has never played in nets might not spot the mistakes in terms of positioning that would be really obvious to them if it was an outfield player. Take it from someone who played that position that's just really poor play. Narrowing the angles in a 1v1 is one of the most basic skills of being a keeper. Unforgivable to be so slow off his line and give the striker that much room to aim at.

I also think a really elite keeper (which is the level we should be expecting from him) might have got a hand (or even foot) on Cambiasso's shot. It was actually very close to him.



He'll definitely look a lot less uncertain in terms of controlling his box when he has a settled back four in front of him but meanwhile, he needs to up his game in terms of shot-stopping and 1v1s because right now he looks a tier below the best keepers in the league.

 

[Amir]

I'm looking at it again and again, and I still can't see how anyone would think he could have saved that.

If there's one thing he's always shown is his stopping ability. There's no reason to doubt that part of his game.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm looking at it again and again, and I still can't see how anyone would think he could have saved that.

If there's one thing he's always shown is his stopping ability. There's no reason to doubt that part of his game.

The Cambiasso shot?

It was hit from 3 or 4 yards beyond the penalty shot and went past him about a yard away from his left foot. It was hit very hard so would have needed a really special save but if you read back through this thread you'd see most people claiming that we have a really special keeper.

 

[Amir]

The Cambiasso shot?

It was hit from 3 or 4 yards beyond the penalty shot and went past him about a yard away from his left foot. It was hit very hard so would have needed a really special save but if you read back through this thread you'd see most people claiming that we have a really special keeper.

All true. But even special goalkeepers concede goals. Sometimes saves are more luck than anything else. Like you said, it flew a yard from his left foot. If that foot stands a bit to the left, he saves it simply through positioning and everyone hails him. Sometimes it's that simple.

 

[The Mitcher]

He reminds me of Cillessen, 20 penalties and hasnt saved one. I dont know his penalty statistics, but it reflects his confidence overall. On another note, what happened to the deal with Romero? Maybe we will be back for him in Januray, De Gea needs some serious competition, even though i dont rate the guy.

He saved two in january, and saved one against RVP in 2011-12. How the hell has he gone from 2nd best keeper in this thread to fecking Cillessen? Dear god the level of posting has degenerated.

 

[izec]

He saved two in january, and saved one against RVP in 2011-12. How the hell has he gone from 2nd best keeper in this thread to fecking Cillessen? Dear god the level of posting has degenerated.

i didnt say he was Cillessen, just his penalty saving skills remind me of him.

 

[Sammyjunn]

He saved two in january, and saved one against RVP in 2011-12. How the hell has he gone from 2nd best keeper in this thread to fecking Cillessen? Dear god the level of posting has degenerated.

He is just talking about the penalty part, and its not like Cillessen is a bad keeper, reckon he is better than Wojiech for example.

 

[J-Stander]

He hasn't really played behind a settled defence apart from the season we won the league, when he got into the team of the season. He could definitely command the defence more but it can't help when it's a different group every other game.

 

[The Mitcher]

i didnt say he was Cillessen, just his penalty saving skills remind me of him.

But even their penalty saving skills are different. De Gea HAS saved them, Cillessen hasn't. You are utterly wrong. And I wasn't saying you said he was, I was disagreeing with your comparison.

He is just talking about the penalty part, and its not like Cillessen is a bad keeper, reckon he is better than Wojiech for example.

As I said above, I disagreed with his comparison I did not say he said De Gea is cillessen.

 

[izec]

But even their penalty saving skills are different. De Gea HAS saved them, Cillessen hasn't. You are utterly wrong. And I wasn't saying you said he was, I was disagreeing with your comparison.


As I said above, I disagreed with his comparison I did not say he said De Gea is cillessen.

it doesnt matter if he saved some penalties, every time we get a penatly against us, you know he probably wont save it. Luck or no luck, i think that he should work on it and improve.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

it doesnt matter if he saved some penalties, every time we get a penatly against us, you know he probably wont save it. Luck or no luck, i think that he should work on it and improve.

Any goalkeeper in the world probably won't save a penalty.