David De Gea Appreciation Thread

Well no, Joe Hart was given a contract by a Champions League club.
One is playing in the UCL whilst the other is playing PlayStation on Tuesday nights
This argument is becoming really boring. You really think that De Gea can't find a decent club?
He is waiting for top club (which is his mistake of course).
 
Moving DDG on was 100% the correct call. Replacing him with a worse keeper is a disaster.
 
This argument is becoming really boring. You really think that De Gea can't find a decent club?
He is waiting for top club (which is his mistake of course).

Yeah. Real Madrid was interested in DDG but Ancelotti opted for Kepa, who so far has an underwhelming season.
https://www.si.com/fannation/soccer...l-madrid-david-de-gea-thibaut-courtois-injury
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/real-madrid-david-degea-transfer-30676956

Just another big club manager who made a wrong choice on Gk, just like EtH.
 
Yeah. Real Madrid was interested in DDG but Ancelotti opted for Kepa, who so far has an underwhelming season.
https://www.si.com/fannation/soccer...l-madrid-david-de-gea-thibaut-courtois-injury
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/real-madrid-david-degea-transfer-30676956

Just another big club manager who made a wrong choice on Gk, just like EtH.

I smell delusion which was probably the same problem for De Gea after he was released by the club. Madrid has the best defence in La Liga so far.
 
Kepa, who so far has an underwhelming season.
Is he? heard from Chelsea fans he's doing better than ever. 6 GA is excellent.
And You have Ancelotti who had been in EPL before DDG's downhill yet voted against signing. It's really telling
 
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This argument is becoming really boring. You really think that De Gea can't find a decent club?
He is waiting for top club (which is his mistake of course).
Real, Bayern, Inter, Arsenal and Chesea were all looking for a new GK this summer, an unusually high number of top clubs that. He was there available for free. What's the holdup? What do you think about Spain calling the likes of Kepa and Unai Simon ahead of him for about 5 years now? His one skill got praised to the skies because we were bad, no team that aims to play well can afford a GK who is that timid and afraid to dominate his box like him. Onana's quality has nothing to do that.
 
I can’t believe how many genuinely want him back :lol:
Never wanted him gone either. He wasn't the main issue, a smart club would have a penalty specialist for vital cup runs. We are a shit squad with issues, and needed his services for a 1-2 year rebuild phase were facing.
 
He was demanding too much and priced himself out of a new contract. This was the right call.
 
To be honest I am really surprised that he still unemployed.

Thought he could have done a job at Sevilla, Valencia or Villareal, but apparently no.

I also think that he could have found a spot in a PL club easily, as he's better than the likes of Jonstone, Leno or other. Or I also thought that he could have gone to Saudi for 2 years take his 20-40M and then retire, but I suppose that the retirement is now for him.

Read above that we made the right call to let him go but were wrong to replace him with a weaker one, which is true.

To be honest, we should have gone to Maignan instead of Onana, but I will give him a full season before writing him off for good.
 
Real, Bayern, Inter, Arsenal and Chesea were all looking for a new GK this summer, an unusually high number of top clubs that. He was there available for free. What's the holdup? What do you think about Spain calling the likes of Kepa and Unai Simon ahead of him for about 5 years now? His one skill got praised to the skies because we were bad, no team that aims to play well can afford a GK who is that timid and afraid to dominate his box like him. Onana's quality has nothing to do that.
The holdup is probably that those top clubs does not want him. Does not mean he doesn't want to play for a top club. Don't get what's hard to understand about this? Most of those clubs you've mentioned clearly wanted a ball playing goalkeeper also, which De Gea does not fit the profile of. Also, just because on keeper is better for one team does not mean he will be better in all teams.
 
To be honest I am really surprised that he still unemployed.

Thought he could have done a job at Sevilla, Valencia or Villareal, but apparently no.
Media reports suggest that he only wants to join a top team. He's allegedly already turned down several offers, including one from Saudi Arabia. Honestly, it must be a pretty harsh reality for him having been at United since he was so young. He's already been at the very top of the sport and dropping down a level or two probably isn't an appealling prospect. There's no question that he has the money to retire either, especially given he's married to another rich celebrity. If he's not that arsed about football any more and would prefer to spend his time with his family and raising his young children, best of luck to him.
 
Don't let our current keeper turning in below than average performances cloud the view of how deficient DDG has been for the past few years - on top of not being able to progress the ball from the back, he was dropping clangers in quite a few big moments. Onana may or may not be the right next keeper for us but we had to upgrade. Perhaps it was just as crucial for us to get another comfortable CB in to make things more settled but our troubles of moving on our overpaid dross is well documented
 
Go to rehab
Signing Onana is looking like a mistake but keeping De Gea would have been one as well. I guarantee if we go for another keeper it's still going to be someone who can pass a ball and not go back to someone like De Gea.
 
Reya has had a few issues settling in at Arsenal, its different playing for a top team. But his stats are better than Onana, he's excellent as a sweeper keeper with good distribution, and he would have cost half the price of Onana and his overall stats are better. Onana is just an average keeper. Apparently we (ETH) only considered Onana. His obsession with Ajax or Dutch league players is why he will fail.
 
De Gea in front of this makeshift defence would have been worse, much worse.

Teams aren't pressing as aggressively because of Onana. They'd be pressing the bejaysus out of De Gea and we'd be under pressure constantly.

He had to go. It's silly to suggest otherwise or that we should bring him back. It would be an unmitigated disaster.
 
The fact this is even a discussion shows what this forum has become.

He was world-class until about 2018, because, despite being an unorthodox goalkeeper, he had insane, cat-like reflexes and agility.

However, as time caught-up and those razor-sharp reflexes started to fail him, his 'foosball' style of goalkeeping (moving only sideways on his line) left him very exposed.

That's before we even get into his kicking. Let's not rewrite history and pretend we got rid of him just because he couldn't kick. We got rid of him because he was rubbish, couldn't claim a cross, shot stopping had fallen off a cliff, he was a nervous wreck AND he couldn't kick.

And let me add this...if he doesn't have a club, it's because nobody wants him, or at least nobody made him a serious offer, with the intention of making him the number one.

Name me ONE other relatively high-profile footballer, in their early 30s, who turned down offer after offer and went deep into a season as a free agent, out of their own choice? Bear in mind, Sanchez is at Chelsea, Kepa is at Real Madrid, Arsenal are going back and forth between Raya and Ramsdale, Spurs have some GK most of us hadn't heard of starting as #1...its not like all of these clubs have nailed-down, world-class goalkeepers.

It's completely illogical to say "Onana isn't very good, we should have kept De Gea", it's like arguing you should have bulldozed your house to stop it burning down.
 
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De Gea in front of this makeshift defence would have been worse, much worse.

Teams aren't pressing as aggressively because of Onana. They'd be pressing the bejaysus out of De Gea and we'd be under pressure constantly.

He had to go. It's silly to suggest otherwise or that we should bring him back. It would be an unmitigated disaster.
DDG needs to be replaced for sure. However, it's not that straight forward beneficial with team not pressing Onana. We're not good at a team to control, play patiently through the lines. So now we look very lost. As good as Onana with his feet, from his position, he's not Paul Scholes. Opposition stay back and mark our players, then we lose that quick transition option which has been still our strongest attacking weapon since forever. And our of desperation to play through the lines slowly, we have been shooting ourselves in the foot, and Onana shared so,e blame for this issue. Beside Galatasaray mispassed, Onana has been booting it long aimlessly too.

DDG may not be ideal, but it should not be much worse. It's not like DDG never had to play with a makeshift defense for us. There was time under LVG had to play Blond Carrick as CB. McNair, CBJ, TFM got thrown to first team due to injuries and all. Valencia, Young started their full transition from attackers into fullbacks under LVG. Teams press us, but that also means space in behind, and that's the kind of situation Rashford and Bruno thrive. DDG shot stopping ability was still net positive more often than not. Where as currently, the benefit is little where as we face all kind of issue for, the back to the front.

The previous situation with DDG was terrible, but we could have not gone to the extreme especially in term of the fee for Onana. Get a stop gap cheaper GK, and use the money "wisely" to improve other area, before the final piece of the puzzle, an ball playing GK but with flaw. Of course feel like pipe dream as this club seems to have the priority all wrong. Mount signing was baffling with his position as well as the fee involved.
 
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Moving him on and not replacing him with someone who improves our position is sad, but Onana will come good, people should relax.
 
DDG needs to be replaced for sure. However, it's not that straight forward beneficial with team not pressing Onana. We're not good at a team to control, play patiently through the lines. So now we look very lost. As good as Onana with his feet, from his position, he's not Paul Scholes. Opposition stay back and mark our players, then we lose that quick transition option which has been still our strongest attacking weapon since forever. And our of desperation to play through the lines slowly, we have been shooting ourselves in the foot, and Onana shared so,e blame for this issue. Beside Galatasaray mispassed, Onana has been booting it long aimlessly too.

DDG may not be ideal, but it should not be much worse. It's not like DDG never had to play with a makeshift defense for us. There was time under LVG had to play Blond Carrick as CB. McNair, CBJ, TFM got thrown to first team due to injuries and all. Valencia, Young started their full transition from attackers into fullbacks under LVG. Teams press us, but that also means space in behind, and that's the kind of situation Rashford and Bruno thrive. DDG shot stopping ability was still net positive more often than not. Where as currently, the benefit is little where as we face all kind of issue for, the back to the front.

The previous situation with DDG was terrible, but we could have not gone to the extreme especially in term of the fee for Onana. Get a stop gap cheaper GK, and use the money "wisely" to improve other area, before the final piece of the puzzle, an ball playing GK but with flaw. Of course feel like pipe dream as this club seems to have the priority all wrong. Mount signing was baffling with his position as well as the fee involved.

Look at the stats from the last few seasons. DDG's shot stopping was nowhere near a net positive. It's a bit of a myth and his failure to do any of the rest of the role of a goalkeeper put us under pressure constantly. Yes Onana sends it long but it would seem to be a tactic and he's much more accurate with his long balls.

We've had a few brainfarts in defence but we've haven't had to deal with the heart in the mouth awfulness that is De Gea passing to Maguire in the face of a high press.

Onana's had a bad time of late but I can't see how it would have been better with De Gea. Perhaps we've made the wrong choice in Onana but it's only been a few games and with a full strength settled defence things could well improve. If not, it'll be another Taibi situation.
 
Should have got rid 2 seasons ago and signed Pope for £10m.

If he flopped we'd have had the summer to look at other options.
 
Should have got rid 2 seasons ago and signed Pope for £10m.

If he flopped we'd have had the summer to look at other options.
Right now it's looking like every Newcastle move has been better, from player recruiting to bringing on Howe.
 
Last season in the PL our defensive record was excellent — 43 goals conceded — and our attacking record was abysmal — 58 goals scored.

The obvious conclusion? Get rid of the keeper. Genius.
 
Last season in the PL our defensive record was excellent — 43 goals conceded — and our attacking record was abysmal — 58 goals scored.

The obvious conclusion? Get rid of the keeper. Genius.
You say that as if we didn't also sign a striker and attacking midfielder. Amongst the other obvious tactical nuances such as how deep our defensive line to had to be to compensate for the previous goalkeeper, etc.
 
Right now it's looking like every Newcastle move has been better, from player recruiting to bringing on Howe.

Not really backed up by league table last season or this...

I appreciate Newcastle started from a weaker base, and I like Howe, but what signings have they made that you'd desperately want at United?

We fall foul of this consistently on this forum. Everything other teams do is great, everything we do is rubbish...yet it is United who have finished 2nd twice in the last three seasons and United who have won a trophy.

There's no real pressure on teams like Newcastle. When they do well, it makes the news. When they don't, you don't hear about it really, so there's always this illusion there doing great, when in reality, aren't they like a point above us?
 
Don't get me wrong, I am all for appreciating all of the good that De Gea did for the club throughout his tenure here, but are we really just entirely writing off Onana already?

He's had a very ropey start, there's no denying that, but so did De Gea. It's also worth remembering that the team in general has started the season poorly, and I'm convinced that we will start to see more of Onana's positive attributes as the team's play improves.
 
Look at the stats from the last few seasons. DDG's shot stopping was nowhere near a net positive. It's a bit of a myth and his failure to do any of the rest of the role of a goalkeeper put us under pressure constantly. Yes Onana sends it long but it would seem to be a tactic and he's much more accurate with his long balls.

We've had a few brainfarts in defence but we've haven't had to deal with the heart in the mouth awfulness that is De Gea passing to Maguire in the face of a high press.

Onana's had a bad time of late but I can't see how it would have been better with De Gea. Perhaps we've made the wrong choice in Onana but it's only been a few games and with a full strength settled defence things could well improve. If not, it'll be another Taibi situation.
You're being dramatic. If a goalkeeper not having a net positive then we're closer to lose as many games as winning because simply our defense has always been letting in shots.

Onana long ball is still plenty of miss than hit right now. Against Galatasaray, he had passing completion under 60%. 25 long ball, 11 accurate long ball, which means 14 went wayward or intercepted by opposition. Against Burnley it's in 60% region, 22 long ball and only 8 of them were accurate. When Onana played his long ball, he his overall pass completion, and long ball accuracy improve. However, eye test shows that it looks like opposition happy to sit back and let Onana in his position having more of the ball because we can't create from that position. We're not reaping any benefit yet we're having a different issue in hands.

Against Wolves and Tottenham, we had almost full strength team bar Hojlund injury. Against Nottingham Forest, Mount and Shaw missed out from the previous two game starting XI. Chance conceding on those 3 games actually what skewed the shot conceding stats. Not the Crystal Palace game. Even at the full strength, our team as seen in last season had other issue of its own not just solely on DDG. Our players can be off form too. Shaw is infamous with some patch of dogshite form almost every season, as well as a couple random amateur performance during his top form period. We have been often allowing shot against our goal with full strength team too. The more important priority is improving other position, which we seem to only did the bare minimum such as: we didn't a have a proper CF, we now have one but we can't expect this young to carry the team with goals like RvN or RvP; or we needed an proper upgrade on profile player of Eriksen, we got an entirely different player in Mount with his own issue; or Amrabat as a cover for Casemiro as well as replacement for Fred to partner Casemiro, but Eriksen role is properly upgraded. Basically we have pretty much same team, and expect Onana to elevate this team. It would be ironic, now to expect to change the same team to improve our GK.
 
What do Rio and Vidic, Jones and Smalling, Bailley and Evans, and Lindelof and Maguire all have in common? All were replaced and seen as not good enough while De Gea was our #1