David De Gea Appreciation Thread

DDG was limited, but generally pretty OK.

Onana has been calamitous and, more of an issue, we're stuck with him for a few seasons now.

Still hopeful he will come good though, ETH has made it work out with him before. It might be that AFCON is what he needs, just a break away for a while
 
It would have been easy to replace him. As I said, there's a whole bunch of keepers that changed club this summer that a) were better than De Gea of the last few seasons (low bar) and b) haven't racked up as many mistakes as Onana has so far this season. Most of them cost a fraction of the fee we spent on Onana too. Spurs managed to upgrade Lloris without any drama. We could obviously have done the same with DDG.

Plus it's still possible that Onana might come good. It was only this weekend when the mood about him was turning and we thought that maybe we'd signed a good keeper after all. Yet here we all are, catastrophising after his very next performance. Don't you usually look down your nose at people who do that?
I agree with you just found it ironic.

I've always said phase any new keeper in over a year, but the caf was overflowing with that 'get rid' energy it was pointless arguing
 
I agree with you just found it ironic.

I've always said phase any new keeper in over a year, but the caf was overflowing with that 'get rid' energy it was pointless arguing

The counter there is that having the guy you're replacing still hanging around doesn't do either any favours.
 
I agree with you just found it ironic.

I've always said phase any new keeper in over a year, but the caf was overflowing with that 'get rid' energy it was pointless arguing
Yep, agreed. I also think that while DDG needed replacing, the money could have been more productively spent in other areas first.
 
Onana's penalty save against Copenhagen is the only reason we havent been eliminated yet, its not his fault that we have given a penalty away in almost every one of our group games and had players sent off in 2 of them with both red cards costing us the games they came in.

One penalty save does not outweigh the insane amounts of drops in the Champions league. His form in the premier league has improved but he has absolutely been the main reason we are on our way out of the champions league.
 
Haven't we been through this a hundred times already when discussing de Gea? He's not getting younger or better, a sabbatical where the only training he gets is whatever he himself decides to give himself and him getting zero games during the time will only exacerbate that. The last transfer window was one of the most busy ones on the goalkeeping position in years with many big clubs rotating keepers in and out, yet he was never even in the running for any of them.
From a human perspective, I'd get it if he wanted some time off, maybe wanting to focus on being a dad and husband for a bit. But from a practical and professional standpoint, following that desire essentially amounts to career suicide. And I do not have de Gea pegged as being dumb enough intentionally do that, unless he has decided he is done in general. He certainly could afford it to retire with how United has been stuffing his pockets the past years.
I feel like you're a young busy body? He could easily take a year out and return to the top flight (even if not the top top teams as their no 1).

Y'all make it seem as if everyone is career driven over personal wellbeing. I doubt he's crying to himself while he gets to enjoy his wealth without the hustle and bustle?

The counter there is that having the guy you're replacing still hanging around doesn't do either any favours.
Bollocks
 
I agree with you just found it ironic.

I've always said phase any new keeper in over a year, but the caf was overflowing with that 'get rid' energy it was pointless arguing

You can’t “phase in” a keeper like you do other positions. No clubs ever does this. Or in the very rare cases they try it always causes drama (e.g. Arsenal this season) For goalkeeper you need a clear number one and number two. You don’t offer a keeper as highly paid as DDG a fat new contract to continue as number two.
 
One penalty save does not outweigh the insane amounts of drops in the Champions league. His form in the premier league has improved but he has absolutely been the main reason we are on our way out of the champions league.

I disagree, I dont believe he is the main reason we are on our way out of the Champions League.
 
I think it’s more that you have people that understand we needed to upgrade on De Gea, and just because Onana is bad doesn’t mean De Gea should’ve stayed. We’ve chosen poorly in replacing him though.
Agree, until one came DDG should have stayed.. unsettled everything with a inconsistent keeper..
 
You can’t “phase in” a keeper like you do other positions. No clubs ever does this. Or in the very rare cases they try it always causes drama (e.g. Arsenal this season) For goalkeeper you need a clear number one and number two. You don’t offer a keeper as highly paid as DDG a fat new contract to continue as number two.
What? Don't double down mate...
 
De Gea's gone and wont come back.
Thankfully so, adding a past it error prone goalkeeper wouldn’t do anything for us, it’s time people move on.
 
De Gea is not coming back. And, unfortunately, it will not be easy to find a goalkeeper better than him. ETH will be gone by the end of this season, but the damage he caused will remain for much longer.
 
You can’t “phase in” a keeper like you do other positions. No clubs ever does this. Or in the very rare cases they try it always causes drama (e.g. Arsenal this season) For goalkeeper you need a clear number one and number two. You don’t offer a keeper as highly paid as DDG a fat new contract to continue as number two.
This is not true.

Szczesny bought in from Roma by Juventus to replace Buffon didn't create serious drama. Donnarumma, Keylor Navas was not crazy dressing room dividing rivalry. Same Keylor Navas gave Courtois the cold shoulder when Courtois joined, didn't result in civil war as bad as Ole's final season.

Going back further, Courtois coming back from Atletico Madrid loan to rotate with Cech and eventually displaced Cech. Cech opened up after his retirement about not happy when Mourinho finally made it clear Courtois was going be no1. Neither this was not the cause of dressing room unrest for what happened with Mourinho's meltdown in a year later at Chelsea. Even Mendy who outright bought in to replace Kepa didn't exactly cause shit throwing drama for Chelsea.

Ben Foster clearly was given chances to build himself in hope to replace VDS. Young DDG and Lindegaard worked out well for us too.

People seem to be traumatized by DDG-Henderson episode more than anything.
 
You can’t “phase in” a keeper like you do other positions. No clubs ever does this. Or in the very rare cases they try it always causes drama (e.g. Arsenal this season) For goalkeeper you need a clear number one and number two. You don’t offer a keeper as highly paid as DDG a fat new contract to continue as number two.

Didn't Chelsea do this with Cech and Courtois?
 
How is he not?
He’s also the main reason we might qualify for the champions league next season. He’s been quite outstanding in the league so far.

I like Onana. I’ve seen enough good to forgive him in the CL. We ain’t got a prayer of winning the thing anyways this season given our defence injuries and out of form players.

I’d argue Onana is the least of our worries given we have looked toothless at times, conceded tonnes of shots and can’t control a game for toffee.
 
He’s also the main reason we might qualify for the champions league next season. He’s been quite outstanding in the league so far.

I like Onana. I’ve seen enough good to forgive him in the CL. We ain’t got a prayer of winning the thing anyways this season given our defence injuries and out of form players.

I’d argue Onana is the least of our worries given we have looked toothless at times, conceded tonnes of shots and can’t control a game for toffee.
Some of the reason we are conceding tonnes of shots is due to him being in goal. Gala were popping shots from everywhere on Wed thinking he had a mistake in him.

I say some, note I didn't say all of the reason.
 
Some of the reason we are conceding tonnes of shots is due to him being in goal. Gala were popping shots from everywhere on Wed thinking he had a mistake in him.

I say some, note I didn't say all of the reason.
De Gea was terrible at playing out from the back and put our back four under needless pressure so Onana is an upgrade for sure in many areas if you ask me.

He even has a higher shot stopping percentage than de Gea has had for years so I back the keeper. He’s new and with a solid defence in front of him he’s one of the worlds best as he proved last season.

He was magnificent in that champions league final and the run upto it. Certainly a better run than de Gea has had for almost a decade of form.

Reminds me a bit of LVG and Lukaku this.

Some sections of our fanbase were clowns regarding Lukaku especially. Guy was a higher level and had more stones than any of our attackers since yet somehow he got all the blame.

Now people use their rose tinted glasses to say he was a bad signing despite the fact he scored a tonne of goals played well in big games and was sold for a giant fee because someone rated him higher than our fanbase did.

He also went onto prove he was a top striker with the best form of his career after United. You get the feeling same would happen with Onana if he gets hounded out as well.
 
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He’s also the main reason we might qualify for the champions league next season. He’s been quite outstanding in the league so far.

I like Onana. I’ve seen enough good to forgive him in the CL. We ain’t got a prayer of winning the thing anyways this season given our defence injuries and out of form players.

I’d argue Onana is the least of our worries given we have looked toothless at times, conceded tonnes of shots and can’t control a game for toffee.
Outstanding? Christ. The standards are through the floor. He's been OK in the league. For £47 million I expect a little more than average. I suppose it's an upgrade on his absolutely appalling form in the CL.
 
Some sections of our fanbase were clowns regarding Lukaku especially. Guy was a higher level and had more stones than any of our attackers since yet somehow he got all the blame.
Is this the same guy Chelsea can’t give away?
 
Would it be beyond the realms for De Gea to come back on a short term deal in January? Did he fall out with Ten Hag?
 
De Gea was terrible at playing out from the back and put our back four under needless pressure so Onana is an upgrade for sure in many areas if you ask me.

He even has a higher shot stopping percentage than de Gea has had for years so I back the keeper. He’s new and with a solid defence in front of him he’s one of the worlds best as he proved last season.

He was magnificent in that champions league final and the run upto it. Certainly a better run than de Gea has had for almost a decade of form.

Reminds me a bit of LVG and Lukaku this.

Some sections of our fanbase were clowns regarding Lukaku especially. Guy was a higher level and had more stones than any of our attackers since yet somehow he got all the blame.

Now people use their rose tinted glasses to say he was a bad signing despite the fact he scored a tonne of goals played well in big games and was sold for a giant fee because someone rated him higher than our fanbase did.

He also went onto prove he was a top striker with the best form of his career after United. You get the feeling same would happen with Onana if he gets hounded out as well.
Using Lukaku to try to prove that Onana is a good signing is not the winning argument you seen to think it is...
 
Would it be beyond the realms for De Gea to come back on a short term deal in January? Did he fall out with Ten Hag?

I'm confused, why would you want a player who wasn't good enough last year, is now older and hasn't played since then?
 
De Gea in his last season is as bad as Onana now. Lateral move.
Onana now is worse. DdG needed replacing but on the evidence we've seen so far Onana is definitely a downgrade. Technically, he looks like one of the most un-keeperish goalkeeper I've seen, has already dropped a significant number of major clangers and has barely changed us with his work with the ball at his feet. He also looks barely any better at coming off his line than DdG while looking significantly weaker at shotstopping and 1 Vs 1.
 
There are only two keepers in the world. De Gea and the guy who replaced De Gea.

Thus, if the guy who replaced De Gea is shit, we need to bring back De Gea. There is no other option.
 
Onana now is worse. DdG needed replacing but on the evidence we've seen so far Onana is definitely a downgrade. Technically, he looks like one of the most un-keeperish goalkeeper I've seen, has already dropped a significant number of major clangers and has barely changed us with his work with the ball at his feet. He also looks barely any better at coming off his line than DdG while looking significantly weaker at shotstopping and 1 Vs 1.

As idiotic as it was to get rid of De Gea when other needs weren’t addressed and we’ve clearly downgraded with Onana, there’s no going back to De Gea now. We have no choice to hang in there with Onana until the end of the season and assess whether we need to get rid of him too. My take is that Onana has hit bottom and will pull himself together to enable us to stick with him for a few more seasons until his contract runs out and we look for another keeper.
 
As idiotic as it was to get rid of De Gea when other needs weren’t addressed and we’ve clearly downgraded with Onana, there’s no going back to De Gea now. We have no choice to hang in there with Onana until the end of the season and assess whether we need to get rid of him too. My take is that Onana has hit bottom and will pull himself together to enable us to stick with him for a few more seasons until his contract runs out and we look for another keeper.
Yup, agreed that there's no point looking back at DdG again. Hopefully Onana improves from here as opposed to buckling under the intense scrutiny and goes on to forge a really successful career with us.
 
I'm confused, why would you want a player who wasn't good enough last year, is now older and hasn't played since then?
He’s better than that Turkish guy and De Gea is a free agent. Who do you think we’re going to get in January that is better??
 
De Gea was terrible at playing out from the back and put our back four under needless pressure so Onana is an upgrade for sure in many areas if you ask me.

He even has a higher shot stopping percentage than de Gea has had for years so I back the keeper. He’s new and with a solid defence in front of him he’s one of the worlds best as he proved last season.

He was magnificent in that champions league final and the run upto it. Certainly a better run than de Gea has had for almost a decade of form.

Reminds me a bit of LVG and Lukaku this.

Some sections of our fanbase were clowns regarding Lukaku especially. Guy was a higher level and had more stones than any of our attackers since yet somehow he got all the blame.

Now people use their rose tinted glasses to say he was a bad signing despite the fact he scored a tonne of goals played well in big games and was sold for a giant fee because someone rated him higher than our fanbase did.

He also went onto prove he was a top striker with the best form of his career after United. You get the feeling same would happen with Onana if he gets hounded out as well.
You must not have watched ddg if you think onana's inter run was as good as ddg 10 years ago. That was just getting into that 5 year period post sir Alex he was the 1st or 2nd best keeper in the world. Consistently
 
You must not have watched ddg if you think onana's inter run was as good as ddg 10 years ago. That was just getting into that 5 year period post sir Alex he was the 1st or 2nd best keeper in the world. Consistently
And how many times did he win our Player of the Year award?
 
Yup, agreed that there's no point looking back at DdG again. Hopefully Onana improves from here as opposed to buckling under the intense scrutiny and goes on to forge a really successful career with us.

I'm no goalkeeper coach, but what I see isn't buckling under the pressure as much as poor technique. With proper coaching he can improve his overall game from his reading of the game to his positioning to his weird Superman style dive. There's nothing that can be done about his lack of quickness, which is where Dave blows away Onana, but he can improve his reading and anticipation. And that daft dive technique.
 
Onana now is worse. DdG needed replacing but on the evidence we've seen so far Onana is definitely a downgrade. Technically, he looks like one of the most un-keeperish goalkeeper I've seen, has already dropped a significant number of major clangers and has barely changed us with his work with the ball at his feet. He also looks barely any better at coming off his line than DdG while looking significantly weaker at shotstopping and 1 Vs 1.
From last season alone. He was really bad; it's just that Onana is most recently bad.
 
You must not have watched ddg if you think onana's inter run was as good as ddg 10 years ago. That was just getting into that 5 year period post sir Alex he was the 1st or 2nd best keeper in the world. Consistently

He was never the 1st or 2nd best goalkeeper in the world at any point, he made some quality saves mostly from shots from distance but has always been useless at penalties and one on ones