[AKDevil]

Massive DDG fan but (non) attempt in 1v1 pissed me off, partly because it was a pivotal goal and first time we went behind. One thing letting in a goal, another letting it in without trying. Yes odds are against keepers in 1v1 situations but it's not impossible to come out on top. He did absolutely nothing and if anything made it easier for Vardy.

By contrast, here is Courtois 1v1 against Leicester.

 

[okLaptop1]

One of my favourites, but he should try saving a pen. for a change. He's zero threat to the pen. takers. It did look like he could have done little to nothing about the rest of the goals, though.

Jeez...

 

[Red Shorts]

Jeez...

Incredible, isn't it.

 

[izec]

And how are you judging the other goalies then, from 4 matches this season? This is baffling to be honest.

The situation to save Falcao's shot and the one today couldn't be more different. The angle, the defenders in the area, the space before the attacker receives the ball all factor into the whether or not you should smother, and none of those factors were the same for those two examples.

I didnt compare the 2 situations, it is just the coming out and letting Falcao having no space and time that matters.

i wont discuss pointless discussions. If De Gea is on Neuers level, that says it all. Of course i compare Ge Gea to Neuer from this season. I compared them the last 5 years, why should i just compare them this season. It is like comparing Welbeck to Falcao. He is not the scapegoat, but he could have saved one. It is not a must to save one, but that is the differnece between good and world class keepers. Still baffled that some think he couldnt have done better than waiting and letting them bang the goals in.

 

[DannyDash]

Not blaming him at all, but in 1 v 1 situations he should have a plan worked out, by all means stay on your line for a while and then creep quickly but as anyone who has been a striker in that position there's nothing better than seeing the keeper staying on the line. e.g. Welbeck against Neuer last season, Stayed on his line and then charged put him off.
Not a criticism but lack of a plan is worrying as he may be in that situation a few times more...

 

[Redo91]

One of my favourites, but he should try saving a pen. for a change. He's zero threat to the pen. takers. It did look like he could have done little to nothing about the rest of the goals, though.

So you think he isn't trying to save penalties? He guessed for the first which all goalkeepers do. He guessed correctly for the second but it was a well placed penalty. What else is he supposed to do?

 

[Speak]

Gripes I have with DDG...

in possession he is so poor.. I rarely see him play out the ball with confidence. Take a risk ffs, just hits it long and we end up facing another attack. One v ones, someone mentioned it but you don't get the feeling he's gonna best the striker and be really hard to get past. Penalties.. no presence whatsoever. Communication? where is the leadership, command that backline.. position them, does he have Van der Sar's tactical awareness?

Needs to up his game - can't rest on his laurels just cause the rest of the team is poor.

This. People were raving about his ball skills for ages. Yet every game he shanks a clearance or two like he did today. He's okay with the ball - nothing more, nothing less.

Still has quite a bit of work to do, which is fine as he's young. But I feel for him. He's barely played in front of a decent, settled defence since the day he arrived here.

He's being tested week in -week out like a 'keeper playing for a bottom six team. He shouldn't need to do as much as he does.

 

[Santos J]

One of my favourites, but he should try saving a pen. for a change. He's zero threat to the pen. takers. It did look like he could have done little to nothing about the rest of the goals, though.

Christ

 

[thejtrain]

Jeez...

Obviously it was said in jest. Convenient to ignore the mention that he isn't posing a threat to the pen. takers, eh? Jeez, these people defending players hard, one would think some players are just immune to any criticism.

 

[Santos J]

Obviously it was said in jest. Convenient to ignore the mention that he isn't posing a threat to the pen. takers, eh? Jeez, these people defending players hard, one would think some players are just immune to any criticism.

What do you want him to do, keep an AK-47 next to the goalpost?

 

[thejtrain]

What do you want him to do, keep an AK-47 next to the goalpost?

Well, let me put it this way. I'd be comfortable taking a pen. against him than any other top keepers at the moment. He strikes me as the more nervous and anxious of the two - the GK and the striker.

 

[Feed Me]

It'd be nice if the lad made a save once in a while.

Leicester had five shots on target...

 

[tom33]

I know criticizing de Gea is frowned upon generally, but I've been disappointed with him so far this season. Two goals today that, although I'm not saying he should have saved, he should have done much better. I remember at least one other goal (can't remember if it was Swansea or Sunderland) where he stood there and watched it without making any attempt at a save.

I know he's playing behind a shambles of a back line, but his saves to goals ratio must be one of the worst in the league right now.

 

[Redo91]

It'd be nice if the lad made a save once in a while.

Leicester had five shots on target...

And were any of them saveable?

 

[dannyrhinos89]

letting in 4 against MK dons, 5 against Leicester isn't really acceptable for a top level keeper,

I'll put it down to terrible form though and having a nonexistent defence in front of him.

 

[Red Shorts]

Put it this way: he is one of the players I am least concerned about in this situation.

 

[Feed Me]

And were any of them saveable?

Swansea had four shots on target, scored two.
MK Dons had seven shots on target, scored four.
Sunderland had three shots on target, one goal.
Leicester had five shots on target, scored five.

He's kept clean sheets against QPR and Burnley.

It's not a great record.

 

[RDCR07]

His distribution has gone to whack. Letting in so many goals recently that hasnt been his fault is obviously affecting his confidence. He needs more clean sheets but doubt that is going to happen with our defense and the opposition we will be up against in the next few weeks.

 

[Someone]

And were any of them saveable?

I thought he could do better yes, he certainly made much harder saves in his career. He used to have great reflexes and so far this season everything goes in, and he never saves penalties.

Why is he above criticism all of the sudden?

 

[Boycott]

His body language makes me lose confidence in him. Not because he doesn't try but because he looks like no matter how many saves he makes he looks like it'll be inevitable before he concedes.

Some keepers thrive on this and launch tirades at their defenders for letting the shots come in. He isn't that personality.

 

[bosnian_red]

I feel like the last few seasons he started off like this. A bit slow and not being noticed too much, not making mistakes really but not really saving much. Not worried about him because he's a great keeper, we just allow the opposition to have so many clear cut chances and they don't give him much of a chance.

One thing that I think he needs to improve with is when the opponent is clear through on goal. He rarely ever saves break aways, probably because he doesn't close them down enough or make himself big enough.

 

[Feed Me]

I feel like the last few seasons he started off like this. A bit slow and not being noticed too much, not making mistakes really but not really saving much. Not worried about him because he's a great keeper, we just allow the opposition to have so many clear cut chances and they don't give him much of a chance.

One thing that I think he needs to improve with is when the opponent is clear through on goal. He rarely ever saves break aways, probably because he doesn't close them down enough or make himself big enough.

Great observation - he's way behind the likes of Neuer, Hart and Coutois in this regard.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

De Gea couldn't do a great deal on today's goals but I agree with the points about his body language - it looks poor and almost self defeatist. This could be influenced by the state of the defensive display in front of him today of course but he did barely move for the goals.

I'm a big DDG fan and I remain committed to the belief that he is the future for us. My concern is that he may be too comfortable at the moment. Last season was an horrendous time, LVG could do with imposing new standards. The thing is, if he had good competition or if LVG could rely on his defence to protect the goalkpeeper more, then we could drop him for a week or 2 like Pellegrini did to Joe Hart and make him fight for the place back. But given our present situation, adding Lindegaard, Amos or Johnson to the frame is just creating more potential problems than it's worth, especially against the physicality of West Ham.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

Some of the comments in here are actually giving me cancer.

 

[In Rainbows]

Swansea had four shots on target, scored two.
MK Dons had seven shots on target, scored four.
Sunderland had three shots on target, one goal.
Leicester had five shots on target, scored five.

He's kept clean sheets against QPR and Burnley.

It's not a great record.

Have you seen those goals?

 

[Redo91]

Swansea had four shots on target, scored two.
MK Dons had seven shots on target, scored four.
Sunderland had three shots on target, one goal.
Leicester had five shots on target, scored five.

He's kept clean sheets against QPR and Burnley.

It's not a great record.

You were talking about the Leicester game. Why bring up the others?

I thought he could do better yes, he certainly made much harder saves in his career. He used to have great reflexes and so far this season everything goes in, and he never saves penalties.

Why is he above criticism all of the sudden?

How exactly could he have done better? On what goals?

As for saving penalties he has saved them in the past (both for us and Athletico). People seem to have forgotten that the odds are stacked against the goalkeeper when it comes to penalties.

Who said he is above criticism? Like all our players he is above unfounded criticism. Complaining about his performance today when there was little or nothing he could do about the goals is an example of this.

 

[Viral United]

I think some if us though he Is at vds level.
But he is work in progress. VDS could have sort out defence him-self.
There is nothing to blame but nothing to take positive.
The situation is we have bad defense and keeper who is still work I'm progress.
He is not VDS who will boss the defense tell them what to do, and what not.

 

[tom33]

How exactly could he have done better? On what goals?

I'll field this one. The two I think he could have done better with are:
First - it was a good header, but it wasn't point blank range and it was at his near post. He didn't dive at all for it. I think this was because he took a step to his right just before the header, either because he was slow to shift himself into position when the cross came in or because he anticipated a header towards the back post. Not saying he would necessarily have saved it if he'd been set properly, but he'd have stood a chance at least as the ball was at a perfect height for the keeper.

Fourth - As Bosnian_red pointed out, one-on-ones are probably his biggest weakness. Part of that is because he lacks the imposing size of other top keepers, but he also doesn't seem to have the decisiveness, certainly at the moment. It could be a confidence thing, but he really ought to be coming all the way out and putting pressure on the striker. Instead he only takes a couple of steps forward and the striker is given plenty of time to just slot it past him.

 

[SammyUnited_83]

I actually think he could be in trouble, I'm a fan and he is a great shot stopper but I can't help but think the powers that be will decide to get someone in with more presence, more commanding in the box and just more of a bully.

I hope I'm wrong, I hope he steps up, but he seems to lack the confidence to get stuck in to defenders, or wipe a striker out, whilst taking a knock in the process. Ultimately that could be his downfall.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I actually think he could be in trouble, I'm a fan and he is a great shot stopper but I can't help but think the powers that be will decide to get someone in with more presence, more commanding in the box and just more of a bully.

I hope I'm wrong, I hope he steps up, but he seems to lack the confidence to get stuck in to defenders, or wipe a striker out, whilst taking a knock in the process. Ultimately that could be his downfall.

Shot stopper... he seems capeable of once every 10 games saving an outrageous shot that he has aboslutely no right to, most games though we have minimal shots against our goal and conceed more than our share.

 

[Redo91]

Ok this is getting out of hand here. Some of the posts are mental. He was our best player last season, concedes five goals, none of which are his fault, and all of sudden there is talk of replacing him?! I just give up.

 

[KiD MoYeS]

World class 'keeper, perhaps he's simply out of form? It can happen.

 

[Minimalist]

I'm going to pretend there can't possibly be people daft enough to place blame on Dave for today.

He did make a mistake against QPR but he was left defenceless today. Catch a grip some of you.

 

[Sammyjunn]

Guys, making some brilliant saves isnt the criteria to be world class. When I even look at keepers like Adrian, they also make them. Or even Kasper makes a lot of brilliant saves, but its just far more to that. If some saw Courtois today, the way he sets up his defence, his dominance, his calmness, his distribution, thats what makes a world class keeper, not just the spectacular saves. De Gea is in terms of saves maybe the best/most spectacular keeper, but I would be crying for Cech.

 

[Sixpence]

Looking at it again, he should do a lot more for the first goal and at least fecking try and dive. He can clearly see that Uchoa is free from markers and is going to get a header in on goal. React, man.

 

[SammyUnited_83]

I'm going to pretend there can't possibly be people daft enough to place blame on Dave for today.

He did make a mistake against QPR but he was left defenceless today. Catch a grip some of you.

No blame, but he does lack presence and was slow off the line for the 4th goal. As soon as Mata slipped it was obvious it was going to end in a 1 on 1, and he stuck to his line, applying no pressure to the striker.

Needs to man up a bit and he will be fine.

 

[Zoo]

Wow, it seems to some that because he hasn't got the presence of a Neuer and is not a penalty specialist that he's pretty shit.

 

[charlenefan]

I'm not saying he's been found culpable for any of the goals against this season but he doesn't seem to be saving much either

Other than against RVP has he ever saved a pen for us?

 

[Mali_Zeus]

If only he tried to save those penalties insted of just staying and not moving.. Oh wait..

It's astonishing how many kneejerk reactions people have here about DDG.

 

[shamans]

Wow, it seems to some that because he hasn't got the presence of a Neuer and is not a penalty specialist that he's pretty shit.

Wow, it seems that if you criticize a player for having a bad game (even though he's usually almost world class) you're being blasphemous on this forum....