Can't believe Kepa starts in goal for Spain. Should be DDG.
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) look forward to a new life under Ruben Amorim. What system will we be playing? What players will impress? and how will it all go? We also say goodbye to Ruud Van Nistelrooy and review United's 3-0 win at home against Leicester City.
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And yet this is the second Spanish manager to leave him out of his squads. On Kepa, in fairness he's back up to Simon. De Gea is what, 6th or 7th choice at this stage? At some point maybe it'll sink in that it's literally only United fans left that rate him.
Fair enough if he's not rated number 1, the fact he ain't even in the squad is laughable. He's better than Kepa that's for certain.
And yet noises coming out are how Ten Hag seem to rate him and is willing to work around his limitations and Murtough seem to be going along with it , when ideally Murtough should be doing his job and putting his foot down and tell Ten Hag it's time for United to thank De Gea for his services and prioritise bringing in another keeper along with Striker and the midfielder even if it's a stopgap .
It's still better than extending De Gea's contract who according to latest The Athletic's Article consider's himself as key component of the team and wants wages reflecting that .
I mean pretty much every performance indicator in existence would suggest that he hasn't been this season in fairness.
In addition Kepa plays higher up that De Gea and by extension allows his team to play a higher line because he's much faster out of his goal when required, as well as obviously being considerably better with the ball at his feet which is imperative for the Spanish national team.
Kepa wouldn't be my choice of the three goalkeepers in their squad but it's pretty easy to see why they're picked over De Gea.
As you know I believe we should upgrade De Gea, but Kepa isnt as good as him. He might play higher but he is such a complete an utter fumble merchant that that doesnt really matter.
I can understand why Raya and Sanchez are in front of De Gea, but Kepa is a terrible goalkeeper.
Typical of the club, really. At the start of the season, Rashford, De Gea, Shaw, Fred, and Dalot were the 5 players either going into their last year or last two years at the club.
Realistically, Shaw and Rashford are the only two who are must keeps, but you're almost certain the club will retain all 5. There's some sort of comfort the club finds in hoarding/retaining players than having to do the difficult task of negotiating and finding a replacement.
Big mistake renewing him and it's gonna cost Ten Hag.
Yeah the leaders bit is what Eth wants. I assume ddg is fantastic in the locker room and all.
He'll be replaced eventually, its all about priorities and striker, midfield and right back (it seems) positions are a priority right now. No need to jump to conclusions about costing ETH's job.
Great shot stopper but doesn’t command the box in the same way The Great Dane once did
Literally means literally literally.
United being in negotiations with De Gea about a new contract, means that Erik Ten Hag, Tony Coton and John Murtaugh rate him.
Quite a few posters have gone on record claiming that De Gea is a terrible fit for Ten Hag’s style of football. If they are rate, Ten Hag must really think he’s fantastic, to compensate for having to accomodate him. Or they must be wrong.
Neither is he as chubby (nor as thick) as The Great Dane is now.
Perhaps I should have said "United leaning people" then as that would include the United staff which wouldn't be far off given that has been literally zero interest in him from elsewhere.
Priorities and a budget. Clearly, ETH doesn't think its worth it to spend 60m on a goalie that will cost him nothing to retain -- and possibly re-train to improve his kicking.
We may need to spend up to 2 strikers and a central mid or even two and possibly an RB to help improve the RW. Goalie may be a priority in a couple of year's time.
I bet there is loads of interest esp if he's on a free.
Yup, priorities based on a budget. We must go big this summer and keeper situation is last on the list.
The Athletic piece tells us the reason: we have limited scope to make other purchases and other areas are bigger priorities.
De Gea is certainly a poor fit for ETH's style of football, you'd need to be actively braindead to argue otherwise. That's why ETH has had to be pragmatic and adjust his instructions. And those adjustments by definition limit the team.
But that doesn't mean weaknesses at CF, CM , RB, etc. don't hurt the team as much or more. Or that there aren't squad composition signings that will take resources too (we already need to sign a backup GK even if De Gea stays for example, and two of our four CBs have been linked to potential exits which would require a signing there).
Even if we have an excellent summer, we're still inevitably going to be left with weaknesses in the team next season. The only debate is which weaknesses to carry.
Ten Hag rates him, it’s clear to see why. Excellent shot stopper with great concentration, that’s the number one requirement. His passing is also improving.
I believe we should not pay him over 200k though.
I believe we should not pay him over 200k though.
Odd that not one journalist anywhere in the world has heard of any of that interest isn't it?
It depends what expectations are for next season if it's just another top 4 run and making numbers in Champions league without actually challenging then it's fine but I don't believe that would be the case if big money striker , Midfielder and fullback arrive then pressure would be on Ten Hag to properly challenge for the league and with De Gea in the goal that's not happening .
It's overly simplistic to say we have no chance of challenging (particularly for the CL) with De Gea in the side. God knows worse goalkeepers than him have made it to CL finals.
It would just be very difficult to do so, especially as it depends on us really nailing other signings.
But generally I don't think people should expect any more than a top four finish and decent cup performances next season. The context of this season is such that we could improve quite a lot next season and still "just" finish in the top four.
Maybe because they expect him to stay.
Agreed. Best case scenario after he leaves United is that he he has to retire due to not being able to find a club and then people throw bottles of piss at him in the street until he dies, broken hearted.
A new contract for him is a step backwards and a signal of where our finances are at for the summer.
100% agree with everything here.
Funny thing is that most non-United fans tend to rate DDG just like most would take Rashford even last season.
I think our progression is ahead of schedule. So like anything in life, it's never a straight line upward. We need to just build the foundations to be a consistent Top 4 side ie build squad depth. (We are a Casemiro, Bruno long-term injury-away from disaster at the moment.) That's a major challenge for the foreseeable future. That should be our goal next season.
We then compete for the title in season 2024/25 when we sprinkle the team with some stardust.
We doubt if we can splurge like crazy next summer anyway. FFP dictates.
I agree CL being cup competition anything can happen but in my opinion though it might be harsh on De Gea apart from his obvious limitations isn't the greatest under the spotlight especially at the biggest stage and just be in top 4 means simply making the numbers not competing for the league at the business end of the season which should be the aim if Ten Hag get 3 outfield starters but with De Gea I simply can't see us dominating the smaller teams and going toe to toe against top teams , which Clubs like City , Liverpool have done for most part in past few years and now something Arsenal have been doing well this season which seems to be the recipe for success in the league .
I think ‘actively braindead’ would be an exaggeration, but generally I agree. And if he is such a poor fit, he must be pretty good compensating for that in Ten Hag’s eyes to prioritize RB, CM and S more. S is self explanatory, but if chosing from Bissaka and Dalot is more detrimental to Ten Hag’s plans than keeping De Gea for several years despite him being a glaringly poor fit, I think he must rate him fairly well as a keeper in general. Especially as, even if he reduces his wages, they won’t be so low as not to pose a decent amount over say a three year contract that couldn’t be spent differently.
To me this points to De Gea, viewed through the combined lens of fit and quality, is being a lot less catastrophic to Ten Hag’s ideas of football than many of the fans here acknowledge.
I would imagine that a lot of the gap between how De Gea performs on paper and the seemingly somewhat less critical view of management comes down to intangibles we can't see or measure. Personality, professionalism, mentality, influence in the dressing room, etc etc.
Earlier in the season ETH cited De Gea alongside Casemiro and Varane as players who know how to win trophies, talking about the need for players with their "winning attitude" on the pitch. Those sort of personality factors and team dynamics aren't going to be visible to us watching from home, but they're a massive part of what the manager actually deals with day to day.
There's also an argument to be made that other areas in the team deserve higher priority simply because they're inherently more valuable and impactful positions over the course of a season. CF most obviously, as you'd always be better off going into a season with a world class striker and mediocre goalkeeper than the other way around. But also other positions to lesser extents.
And while having to alter the way you play to ameliorate your goalkeeper's weaknesses isn't a good thing, it's probably a lot easier to actually do than protecting outfield players in a similar way. Even at sides like City, the goalkeeper typically touches the ball less often and in more structured/coachable situations than the outfield players.
A new keeper is just as important as those areas, we can't control a game if every pass from De Gea goes straight to the opposition. Teams are now pressing him and he ends up giving to ball straight to them in dangerous areas.
Or, hear me out, radical idea here, this is a PR tactic to avoid implosion in the dressing room and a massive drop in confidence and motivation in De Gea before the end of the season. Crazy, right?
You have to question the ambitions of the football club if he's staying on as the starting goalkeeper. He was fortunate to get the last contract in 2019, never mind another one in 2023.
Not sure why we’d give him another contract when there’s the opportunity to get rid of him hassle free
Do you watch the games? His passing has been good in most of them. In the last few games: excellent.
Not sure you have been watching the same games but any time he is pressed with the ball at his feet he shits the bed
Yup. Occam's razor buddy. Ddg will be in nets for us next year because, shocking I know, he's not the best but he's a top four keeper and he deserves it
Every player would be replaced eventually. That went to even Messi at Barca.
Well weighted thoughts. And a very different read than people who write that Ten Hag cannot play a high line or win anything etc with De Gea in the team.
No, not crazy, but maybe a little labored? We’ll see, if there is no new contract offer, we’ll probably find out.
Seems like ETH doesn't want to be in market for a GK this year because he needs money to fill other problem areas. From DDG point of view, not sure what we offered. Probably tried out a 1+1 year offer and got rejected
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