David De Gea Appreciation Thread

Mr.Ridiculous__

The name says it all
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When Dave first joined the club, I was 16. I am nearing my 30s now. For the last decade and a bit, De Gea was the only spark in a rubbish Utd side. He'd be the last line of defence, standing behind absolute dross.

When he started saving shots with his legs, no one else in the Prem did. He was called "unorthodox" and what not. Today everyone saves with their feet. As I grew up, I saw him going from being bullied at crosses to being the best in the world. He kept Courtois out of the team of the league.

Whether it was the Mata free-kick, or the save to Giaccherini, the extreme stretch to beat Matip's point blank shot or the incredible performance at Bernabeu in 2013, Dave gave me so many moments of happiness, and I am really grateful.

You deserved a better defence and a better send off.

Thank you David.
 
Absolute legend of this club. True legend. Sad send off from both fans and club.
 
I appreciate he is finally gone. Had a few great shot stopping years from 2014-2017.

Massively overrated outside of those years. And arguably, overrated within those years as well. Although his shot stopping was world class, every other area of his play was and always has been genuinely bad. Even when he was considered "the best in the world".

Been stopping us from evolving our playing style for the last 5 years. We should have sold him and banked the cash when we had the chance.

Been a good servant and deserves respect for longevity and attitude. But also been earning 3-4 times more than what he's worth.

I don't consider him a legend, or even a top 3 goalkeeper for our club. He's one of the most overrated players in modern football imo, and people who adore him solely judge keepers by shot stopping.
 
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ifightdragons said:
I appreciate he is finally gone. Had a few great shot stopping years from 2014-2017.

Massively overrated outside of those years.

Been stopping us from evolving our playing style for the last 5 years. We should have sold him and banked the cash when we had the chance.
Click to expand...

Not the thread for this. There are others you can proceed to
 
Mr.Ridiculous__ said:
Not the thread for this. There are others you can proceed to
Click to expand...
That's my genuine "appreciation" for/of DDG. Look up the definition of "appreciate". It doesn't only mean positive evaluations.

Start a fan club if you want an echo chamber.

And in case you didn't notice, I did say what I think he did well. So that's also my legit appreciation.
 
ifightdragons said:
I appreciate he is finally gone. Had a few great shot stopping years from 2014-2017.

Massively overrated outside of those years. And arguably, overrated within those years as well. Although his shot stopping was world class, every other area of his play was and always has been genuinely bad. Even when he was considered "the best in the world".

Been stopping us from evolving our playing style for the last 5 years. We should have sold him and banked the cash when we had the chance.

Been a good servant and deserves respect for longevity and attitude. But also been earning 3-4 times more than what he's worth.

I don't consider him a legend, or even a top 3 goalkeeper for our club. He's one of the most overrated players in modern football imo, and people who adore him solely judge keepers by shot stopping.
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This is a terrible take
 
ifightdragons said:
I appreciate he is finally gone. Had a few great shot stopping years from 2014-2017.

Massively overrated outside of those years. And arguably, overrated within those years as well. Although his shot stopping was world class, every other area of his play was and always has been genuinely bad. Even when he was considered "the best in the world".

Been stopping us from evolving our playing style for the last 5 years. We should have sold him and banked the cash when we had the chance.

Been a good servant and deserves respect for longevity and attitude. But also been earning 3-4 times more than what he's worth.

I don't consider him a legend, or even a top 3 goalkeeper for our club. He's one of the most overrated players in modern football imo, and people who adore him solely judge keepers by shot stopping.
Click to expand...

I appreciate you only get five posts a day in the mains.

Mods, this one is NFP.
 
ifightdragons said:
Start a fan club if you want an echo chamber
Click to expand...
or just read the title of the thread.

Dave has many faults that have been spoken about to death, let's make this one different, eh?

DDG was, at times, a great player, the best we had at times and he saved us from slipping further down the table during the dark years. A player that has made over 500 appearances, kept tons of clean sheets, won the league, FA Cup, League Cup and the Europa League deserves to be regarded as a legend, surley?
 
Widow said:
or just read the title of the thread.

Dave has many faults that have been spoken about to death, let's make this one different, eh?

DDG was, at times, a great player, the best we had at times and he saved us from slipping further down the table during the dark years. A player that has made over 500 appearances, kept tons of clean sheets, won the league, FA Cup, League Cup and the Europa League deserves to be regarded as a legend, surley?
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You called my take terrible. I think your take is wrong, but I won't say terrible. We just have differing opinions and criterias for placing value on a player's ability.

I never think he was a great player, like you do. He was an excellent shot stopper for 3-4 years. But goakeeping is so much more than that for me. So that is my genuine and honest appreciation of him, like I've already said.
 
ifightdragons said:
You called my take terrible. I think your take is wrong, but I won't say terrible. We just have differing opinions and criterias for placing value on a player's ability.

I never think he was a great player, like you do. He was an excellent shot stopper for 3-4 years. But goakeeping is so much more than that for me. So that is my genuine and honest appreciation of him, like I've already said.
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One of two things is true.

1) You lack basic literacy and were therefore unable to understand the context in which the word "appreciation" was being used by the person who created the thread.

2) You couldn't let a thread intended for positive comments go five posts without trolling it with negativity.

Either way, it doesn't reflect well on you as a poster.
 
ifightdragons said:
You called my take terrible. I think your take is wrong, but I won't say terrible. We just have differing opinions and criterias for placing value on a player's ability.

I never think he was a great player, like you do. He was an excellent shot stopper for 3-4 years. But goakeeping is so much more than that for me. So that is my genuine and honest appreciation of him, like I've already said.
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You're just wrong

sullydnl said:
One of two things is true.

1) You lack basic literacy and were therefore unable to understand the context in which the word "appreciation" was being used by the person who created the thread.

2) You couldn't let a thread intended for positive comments go five posts without trolling it with negativity.

Either way, it doesn't reflect well on you as a poster.
Click to expand...

You're just right
 
ifightdragons said:
You called my take terrible. I think your take is wrong, but I won't say terrible. We just have differing opinions and criterias for placing value on a player's ability.

I never think he was a great player, like you do. He was an excellent shot stopper for 3-4 years. But goakeeping is so much more than that for me. So that is my genuine and honest appreciation of him, like I've already said.
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Time and place. Read the room.
Oh and one more thing.
feck off.
 
I am sad to see him go. I was so gutted to lose him when it looked like he was going to Madrid. I was elated when he stayed. He wore the colours and badge well, and he seems to genuinely love our club.

We have had many problems since the great Sir Alex retired, but in my opinion he was not one of them. I think he saved us from being much worse during the majority of his tenure here.
 
Dave is a mystery. After a rocky start, he bulked up and he commanded his box. It was a huge concern in the beginning but I remember by his second season he was quite good in the air. Once sir Alex left he stayed on his line and wouldn’t come claim a cross.
 
I have been very critical of him at times but what I will say is that between 2014 and 2018 he was almost certainly of the best goalkeepers in the World.

At his peak, he had the reflexes of a fighter pilot and, despite it being an overused term, he genuinely made saves that other goalkeepers couldn't even dream of making.

The performance against Arsenal at the Emirates when he single handedly kept them at bay will be widely remembered but for me his greatest performance was actually in what looked like a fairly comfortable 3-0 (i think) win at home against Liverpool during LVGs tenure.

My seats at the time were in East Stand T2, right behind the goal, and I had the perfect view of some of the saves he made that day, some of which defied logic.

I remember after the 4/5th wonder save, Sterling and Balotelli simply looking at each other and shrugging as if to say "what can we do?".

So I stand by the criticism in recent times, but that doesn't change the fact he was a superhuman freak of a goalkeeper in his prime
 
Best shot-stopper I've seen, at his peak was correctly regarded as one of the best goalkeepers on the planet and I've never seen our team more dependent on anyone than it was on him during his peak years.

Thus him being our POTY four times and PL goalkeeper of the year five times all within the space of six seasons.

The latter of which really is remarkable when you think about it. For example, the likes of Alisson and Ederson have only made the team of the year once and twice respectively in the 5/6 years they've been in the league, even though they were widely heralded parts of title winning sides. Speaks volumes as to just how highly De Gea was regarded at the time.
 
Probably one of the best shot stoppers I've ever seen at his best. Wish him all the best. Always hard to move on from a long standing player but the time comes for everyone.
 
ifightdragons said:
I appreciate he is finally gone. Had a few great shot stopping years from 2014-2017.

Massively overrated outside of those years. And arguably, overrated within those years as well. Although his shot stopping was world class, every other area of his play was and always has been genuinely bad. Even when he was considered "the best in the world".

Been stopping us from evolving our playing style for the last 5 years. We should have sold him and banked the cash when we had the chance.

Been a good servant and deserves respect for longevity and attitude. But also been earning 3-4 times more than what he's worth.

I don't consider him a legend, or even a top 3 goalkeeper for our club. He's one of the most overrated players in modern football imo, and people who adore him solely judge keepers by shot stopping.
Click to expand...

This is a unnecessarily provocative take with the pretense of being an objective take and one of the worst 'opinions' I have read to this day on this forum.
 
He has faults as a keeper, but he's been a great servant to the club, was genuinely one of the best keepers in the world for a time and seems like a good guy. Not his fault that the halfwits upstairs gave him that absurd contract either. The way his departure seems to have been handled is a real shame.
 
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I will remember the many many games DDG saved us from defeat with his unbelievable shot stopping. Second to none in that department imo.
The game has evolved in more recent years with playing out from the back in vouge. Its not DDG style or indeed strong point. He is first and foremost an outstanding a shot stopper.


Thanks for the memories David.
 
bosnian_red said:
Probably one of the best shot stoppers I've ever seen at his best. Wish him all the best. Always hard to move on from a long standing player but the time comes for everyone.
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Same.

I wish the passing of the torch to the next goalkeeper was smoother, but we cannot always choose the path we want.
 
What a player he was for us. Kept us in so many games, time after time. Special shout out to my Portuguese uncle who always shat on him saying how bad he was, I always said he was world class and any self respecting fan would surely agree.

Still excited to hopefully have Onana though, I think it was the right time for David to leave as long as we actually make said signing, the way this club is run it wouldn't surprise me if Henderson is between the sticks for us till January. If so, what an absolute farce.

Thank you for everything Sir David!
 
Widow said:
. A player that has made over 500 appearances, kept tons of clean sheets, won the league, FA Cup, League Cup and the Europa League deserves to be regarded as a legend, surley?
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Maybe at a club like Atletico Madrid (yeah there is no League Cup in Spain but you get my point). At United? Hardly an impressive trophy haul over 12 years.
 
Undoubtedly the best Manchester United player of the last decade. At one point arguably the best goalkeeper in the league and very likely the world. Capable of things that literally took people's breath away, whether United fans or other.
 
Hound Dog said:
Maybe at a club like Atletico Madrid (yeah there is no League Cup in Spain but you get my point). At United? Hardly an impressive trophy haul over 12 years.
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United have 2 periods in which almost all their success occured. For the vast majority of our history, and vast majority of our players winning an FA Cup with United might have been the peak achievement.

Bar around 40 glorious years or so, we have 2 league titles not won by Busby or Fergie. But I'd argue there are quite a few legends amongst those sides.
 
JagUTD said:
United have 2 periods in which almost all their success occured. For the vast majority of our history, and vast majority of our players winning an FA Cup with United might have been the peak achievement.

Bar around 40 glorious years or so, we have 2 league titles not won by Busby or Fergie. But I'd argue there are quite a few legends amongst those sides.
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Football pre 90s and post 90s is not really the same sport, with talent becoming far more concentrated between a chosen handful of clubs. United were in that category until the early 2010s and there is no club of comparable stature in Europe that suffered such a drop off (one could have said Milan, but even they managed to win another title before United have. And also reached the CL semis this year, something that United have not done since 2011).
 
JagUTD said:
Undoubtedly the best Manchester United player of the last decade. At one point arguably the best goalkeeper in the league and very likely the world. Capable of things that literally took people's breath away, whether United fans or other.
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He had reactions that would make a cat jealous, and unlike cats he was a leader.
 
Livewire1974 said:
He had reactions that would make a cat jealous, and unlike cats he was a leader.
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Don’t think he was a leader. He was a great goalkeeper and best in the world for several seasons. But never commended the defence. Can argue that he led by example, which for a long time was the best we had but was not a leader like Varane, Martinez, Casemiro, Fernandes etc
 
That save Vs Mata’s free kick was a turning point, then there was the double save Vs Everton, and also the saves Vs Real Madrid which became iconic for the feet.
 
Fridge chutney said:
I am sad to see him go. I was so gutted to lose him when it looked like he was going to Madrid. I was elated when he stayed. He wore the colours and badge well, and he seems to genuinely love our club.

We have had many problems since the great Sir Alex retired, but in my opinion he was not one of them. I think he saved us from being much worse during the majority of his tenure here.
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This is exactly how I feel. Thank you Dave for many amazing moments, all the best.
 
It's not been said enough but De Gea is one of Fergies best signings, he signed a 20 year old keeper from Spain who exceeded all expectations.
 
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