Live from my seat that header looked destined to go in... He came from absolutely nowhere to claw that out. Incredible save.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 58
- Clean sheets
- 25
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 2
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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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What alchemy has Ten Hag worked to get him to come off his line?
I want to kiss him.
Thank you David. What a great performance. Saved us today!
Man of the match in my opinion. So good.
Great keeping.
I've been impressed with his application to function better with his other parts of his game I can see him staying on
I've been impressed with his application to function better with his other parts of his game I can see him staying on
No idea what he's ever done for Spain, but how is he not one of the 5(!) selected keepers for the preliminary World Cup team.
Saves aside, shout out to the sweep he made to help Maguire out that he definitely wouldn't have made before this season.
Still very flawed but shot-stopping and applying yourself to improving your weaknesses can go quite a way.
Still very flawed but shot-stopping and applying yourself to improving your weaknesses can go quite a way.
Not his biggest fan but credit where credit's due, he saved our asses in the last 15 mins.
Nailed on MOTM for me.
Nailed on MOTM for me.
Legend
I've criticized him but I think the last few performances are better than what we saw under LVG and jose. The reason for that is cos he's got the saves as he had but it's also leaving the line and his passing is much more consistent.
Match winning saves
Match winning saves
I actually think he and Enrique had a fallout, there's no way Kepa is better than him.
I love how he actually improves in the areas that you don't expect him to at this stage of his career. He's managed to pick some great passes (the one to Shaw got stuck in my mind although Shaw's touch may have more to do with it), went ahead to sweep the ball outside of his box in a dangerous scenario and, of course, pulled out some world-class save (the one for Zouma's header was out of this world).
I still don't expect him to suddenly turn into a great modern keeper but the improvement is great to see. I was going for Martinez for my MotM even at 90+3 minute but right before the final whistle Dave stole it.
I still don't expect him to suddenly turn into a great modern keeper but the improvement is great to see. I was going for Martinez for my MotM even at 90+3 minute but right before the final whistle Dave stole it.
Think he'd had a few high profile blunders for Spain which seems to have wrecked his international pedigree unfortunately.
Ah well, screw them! hope they're happy with Kepa. David in this form could win the cup for Spain.
The joke is on Enrique.
It's a testament to his mentality that he has improved considerably with the ball at his feet and coming off the line.
He is a brilliant example to professionals.
It's a testament to his mentality that he has improved considerably with the ball at his feet and coming off the line.
He is a brilliant example to professionals.
Prime De Gea 
Not only great the two great saves but he’s sweeping much better and looks confident on the ball.
Probably just good coaching. He’s helped lots of our players improve thankfully. Dave looks like a much better all round keeper but not sure Ten Hag stays with him longer term.
What a performance tonight and the save from the Zouma header was outstanding.
Several decent saves in the 2nd half, especially from Zouma's header. Passes out to Shaw were good too.
Not sure if save from Zouma's header was as good as this one, but it reminded be of it anyways.
It's criminal not to make the 55 man shortlist for Spain. He might not be No.1 but he's certainly better than No 5.
I honestly think he’s always been good with his feet - in his first couple of seasons he was knocking it about confidently and was seen as a strength. The difference is we finally have a defence and midfield that are well drilled and players like Martínez, Varane, Eriksen and Casemiro who rarely give him a hospital or nervy pass back. Our defensive line has been so bloody anxious for so many years.
Yeah, picking the likes of Raya, Sanchez and Simon ahead of him is fine but once Kepa is getting on the plane ahead of him you've gone a bit too far.
Distribution and sweeping has looked so much better in recent weeks.. picked out some really nice balls to the full backs today.
Those saves at the end though
Those saves at the end though
Two exceptional saves at the end. He also swept up once in the first half. A big reason why we come away with 3 points.
I understand Enrique not picking him before, but De Gea has done a lot better this season. I feel like there has to be some bad blood there tbh. Probably certain things have been said between them and now he won't get picked.
Kepa is rated really highly in Spain - he’s actually been ok for Chelsea since coming back in but DDG is the form keeper for sure out of the two. Maybe simply his age, if he’s not 1st or 2nd choice Enrique might as well take someone who is more likely to be at the Euros and next WC.
Monstrous performance
No complaints from me. Like others are saying, his improvement under ETH has been remarkable. He's rightly our no.1 and who knows maybe even long term (!) if he keeps this up.
History can’t be rewritten either - he’s never been good for Spain.
He's got that ball out to Shaw down pat at the moment.
I think the fact that he knows Shaw will control whatever ball comes his way puts him at ease, which in turn makes the pass better.
I think the fact that he knows Shaw will control whatever ball comes his way puts him at ease, which in turn makes the pass better.
The keepers Enrique selected might be better at passing than him, but he’s a sight better than them at everything else, including sweeping when you think about the number of times he’s left his line this season, including today when Maguire was caught out in the first half. Also, why is actually being a top goalkeeper not given a higher weighting?
No complaints from me. Like others are saying, his improvement under ETH has been remarkable. He's rightly our no.1 and who knows maybe even long term (!) if he keeps this up.
Im on the fence about long term, there's no doubt De Gea's already improved aspects of his game so early in ETH's tenure but you look at what players like Costa are producing then Dave probably doesn't have it in him to get to those levels now. It all depends on budget, if we only have 100m to spend next summer then throw it all at a CF and get the very best one available. If it's more like 150-200m then going for Costa is something to look at
He also made one punch after the cross, quite untypical. But still this is the area for improvement - de Gea always was hesitant to make strong physical contact with opposing players in the air, for some reason.
That said, his passing and his sweeping game improved significantly lately, and his shot stopping is also high level
That said, his passing and his sweeping game improved significantly lately, and his shot stopping is also high level
Eh, not really.
Up until today De Gea was averaging 0.73 defensive actions outside his penalty area per 90min. Whereas Raya and Simon for example (two of the goalkeepers ahead of him for Spain) have averaged 1.38 and 2.09 respectively. So they're defending outside their box over twice as much.
If you forget Spain and compare him to the keepers of the the teams who have been best in the PL in recent years, Alisson and Ederson have averaged 1.75 and 1.58 this season. So again, over double.
In other words while De Gea's sweeping has unquestionably improved, it's improved from an extremely low base. He's still just 17th out of 22 goalkeepers in the league for that stat this season. If he was actually coming outside his box as much as the best sweepers it would melt our minds.
He was fantastic today. Neither Alisson nor Ederson save that header.
Main reason we won today
Alisson might've. He's a good shot stopper in his own right. Ederson definitely wouldn't.
Match winner today, and his improvement as a sweeper and on the ball this season has been fantastic.
Imagine if he started commanding the box coming for crosses. He’d be one of the best in the world. Such a shame that part is missing.
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