The annual late season blunders did him in in the end
David de Gea has left Manchester United
- Thread starter Tom Van Persie
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The annual late season blunders did him in in the end
Reading fans opinion about Dave reminded me on Rooney's situation when he was leaving. "You are good as your last game/season was" way of thinking.
People even dispute is Dave a club legend or not. Bloody hell.
People even dispute is Dave a club legend or not. Bloody hell.
Great post
He has been always prone to late season blunders and big mistakes in important games, even at his peak under LVG and Mourinho.
His form at the end of this season could have legitimately cost a manager his job. Imagine we dropped down to 5th and then he has that horror show in the FA cup final and in Sevilla? Not looking good for the manager at that point is it. People rightly start asking why we're forcing (apparently good) players to play in a system they can't play in etc. The manager has made the right call on all accounts here.
You consider Dave to be up their with the likes of Cantona, Best, Scholes, Keane etc? The guy couldn't get in the Spain squad...
I was always Dave's huge fan but even i don't dispute Erik's decision in letting Dave go. He just doesn't fit in system. Problem is in rewritting history. All of sudden, Dave was average player for us.
He deserved far better from fans.
First of all, he was in Spain's squad.
And yes, Dave is an absolute legend of this club. By all merits. Performances, honours, longevity and his behaviour all these years.
It is another topic where he is exactly on that legend list.
I've never been his biggest fan, I've half wanted him gone since the failed move to Madrid and even more so the seasons after that, but he wasn't average, he was possibly the best shot stopper/reaction save keeper I've ever seen, and at one point was probably the third best keeper in the world, but at that time he was quite far behind Neuer and Oblak.
I don't think anyone is suggesting he was average his whole time here, but for at least half his time here, he was average with the occasional world class save.
It's kind of like someone like Michael Owen. He was brilliant for a brief period and the rest of the time he was okay. Scored some big goals throughout his career no matter where he went or how slow he got but he wasn't exactly world class for most of his career.
I don't know man, if you're opening up the bottom end of the legend list like that then where do we stop? Wes Brown? David May? Van Persie? Sheringham? We've had great players consistently but they can't all be legends because we weren't organised enough to bin them off sooner or because they won some stuff. It's a combination of massive performances when we need them, consistency week in, week out, winning major silverware as a team etc.
Actually, i am very demanding regarding that legend status. And i don't use that word lightly.
Imo, Dave deserves it. And i am not saying that because i "love him". For example, RVP is in my top 10 favourite United players of all time but i would never call him as our legend.
Neither i would call Brown, May or Teddy as legends.
I hear you, but they won so much more than De Gea ever did and had some massive performances in massive games, CL finals some of them. De Gea never had any of that, in fact he was consistently disappointing in the big games and usually had a mistake in him. In a well functioning team he doesn't win any of the player of the year awards also.
I'd say Wes Brown is more of a legend than De Gea, even O'Shea for his nutmeg on Figo alone.
He is a ManUtd legend and ManUtd history books will have him as ManUtd legend, only thing that really matters.
Sorry but if you think De Gea is a legend then we must have dripped the bar very low. Just staying with a club for a long period because they paid you an insane wage at 350k a week whilst trying to move to Madrid and then not improving any part of your game, but actually getting worse does not make you any kind of legend in my eyes. Cantona, Giggs, Scholes, Keane, Rio, Schmikes, Edwin, Rooney, Neville, Vidic, Best etc are United legends. I wouldn't put De Gea anywhere near those guys.
A good player for us for several years, and another several where he varied game to game between average/poor/great. Not a legend by any stretch.
It was obvious a long way out that he just didn't suit the way ETH wants to play, but due to lack of options he had to persevere.
I don't think his end of season form had much to do with it, probably more likely that the situation impacted his form more than the other way around.
People are so fickle and have short memories.
His lack of development also reflects poorly on the club. He joined us as a teenager with greats shot stopping potential but the revolving door of managers, goalkeeping coaches, no set back four ahead of him and the constant need to put out fires elsewhere meant he never really got the chance to work on his weaker aspects.
The bar has been dripped for so long, and you blubber crap about how DDG earned 350k a week when we had absolute clowns like Lingard earning 100k+ a week, players like Fred, Maguire, Martial, Sancho and similar who earn 200k a week, yeah shock horror nobody plays for free. DDG is probably the only players in the last 10 years who actually deserved the salary he got. All players decline, just like Rooney, Rio, Vidic and the others. That does not change the fact the DDG will be remembered as a club legend.
Abit concerned by that last part if the late season blunders are the only reason we let him go. He’s been making blunders for five years now and has shown for years he’s not good enough anymore. Hugely concerning if true that yeh Utd hierarchy couldn’t see that and reacted based on short form.
What's the speculation about his next move?
I’m not sure any amount of coaching could have stopped him being a physical coward who was terrified of being touched and crapped himself if an opposition player came within 20 yards of him. Those personality traits become fixed pretty early on.
He struggles to pass over a rushing opponent to the full back, that can be coached but when you have managers trying to win today to save their asses tomorrow, it becomes difficult to work through a thorough plan for long term improvement.
To be fair, the one time he was challenged by Van Gaal, he immediately packed his bags to Madrid.
Scary that we would have persisted with him for another year if it hadn't have been for those obvious, major errors. I don't understand why though. It was always such a huge priority in my mind. All in all, one of those cases where a loss can be a win.
How short does a memory have to be to be short? Because 5 years is a long time.
I don't think it's the only reason. Likely, Ten Hag wanted him to go from day 1 but had a restricted budget. The article alludes to those hindrances. He had to prioritize and considering he achieved his targets in season 1, he wasn't wrong.
Ten Hag thought he could actually change him while he has to make do. That might have been a mistake here but he had to try.
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For me, he's a loyal servant, was a great player (for a period of time) but NOT a legend.
Legends to me is about striving to be the absolute best and demand that from others. It's also about recognising and adapting as your abilities and strengths diminish.
Some choose to walk away when they know their powers are waning. Others adapt to a lesser role in the squad or a bit part player.
DDG hasn't done that. He apparently asked Schwienstieger constantly if he was as good as Neuer...well he should have done the work to improve then.
His mental weakness in top games held him back and the club bought defenders like Maguire (Heading ability) to overcome his failure to deal with crossfield arial balls.
Yes for a period he was immense for club and country in most games, but still saved his mistakes for the biggest stage.
He's been an example of the club settling for "good enough" not "best" and he can't really be solely to blame for that. The people that would have demanded high standards left and he has been adrift ever since.
So long Dave, thanks for some great memories.
Legends to me is about striving to be the absolute best and demand that from others. It's also about recognising and adapting as your abilities and strengths diminish.
Some choose to walk away when they know their powers are waning. Others adapt to a lesser role in the squad or a bit part player.
DDG hasn't done that. He apparently asked Schwienstieger constantly if he was as good as Neuer...well he should have done the work to improve then.
His mental weakness in top games held him back and the club bought defenders like Maguire (Heading ability) to overcome his failure to deal with crossfield arial balls.
Yes for a period he was immense for club and country in most games, but still saved his mistakes for the biggest stage.
He's been an example of the club settling for "good enough" not "best" and he can't really be solely to blame for that. The people that would have demanded high standards left and he has been adrift ever since.
So long Dave, thanks for some great memories.
I am not sure if he deserved the salary he got but there's definitely a strong case for it. Anyway, can't blame him for running his contract down since it was quite clear in the last few years nobody rated him anywhere close to what we've been paying him. The point is, his "longevity" has to be considered in context of being the best paid keeper in the world.
I agree that is a factor, but big part of the problem is his timid personality. This was a risk worth taking as he was really young when joined, shame for a few reasons he never developed into an all around goalkeeper to add to his tremendous shot stopping ability.
Spot on.
I don't think that was the case, I think ETH (as much as DDG didn't fit his game) thought we can somehow survive another season with De Gea as we have very good defensive line now PLUS other priority signings to make. He also had quite a lot of supporters amongst United fans, just check DDG performances thread to see how much they were willing to accept. His mistakes in latter stages of the season made it easy to make a tough decision to let him go but I am sure this was always preferred option by ETH.
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This is disingenuous. He worked with Frans Hoek for goodness sake.
De Gea’s limitations were simply just that: his limitations. The idea that the club are the reason for them is simply crackers.
Crafton’s assessment is a fair one. His time here ended less than ideal circumstances, but it’s also fair to say that De Gea has been afforded a lot of goodwill over the years.
We’ll all remember him fondly in years to come. Already this is the case with Rooney, who was also shepherded out the door long after he was done in.
We’ll all remember him fondly in years to come. Already this is the case with Rooney, who was also shepherded out the door long after he was done in.
Neither could Cantona, Best, Scholes or Keane
And from the club.
Neither could Cantona, Best, Scholes or Keane
Cantona has the same number of appearances for France as de Gea has for Spain (46). Best has 37 for Northern Ireland. So it’s a bizarre metric for ‘legendary status’.
Goals prevented is subjective though, what metric are they using to base it on, shots which would typically hit the back of the net and it was a wonder save?
If so, shouldn't those saves become expectant with de Gea as he was a phenomenal shot stopper which then skews the metric somewhat?
Gerrard played 114 times for England while Scholes only played 60 odd games. Of course this is a nonsense metric
Regardless of all the wrong doings in the past few season, he's been our world class players for more than a decade and we definitely haven't celebrated his consistent, honest and faithful worh ethics towards Man Utd. The man is a legend and certainly hasn't left feeling that way and that's all because of these awful owners. I hope he has a great challenge to look forward to and i really wish he wins a few trophies that he truly deserves. You will always be a Legend in our hearts De Gea except for when you wanted to leave for Madrid (haha). All the very best for your future.
Neither could Cantona, Best, Scholes or Keane
True that! Although I’m sure Keane would have given it a go after the Japan WC.- Status