He's great but he'll be behind Peter short of him staying with us at least a similar length of time.
I'm calling it: DDG is the best we've ever had
- Thread starter Rado_N
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I think he is tbf. I've watched Schmikes and De Gea at their best, and I think De Gea is better, just. I don't agree with the argument that De Gea lacks organizational skill or leadership. The defenders that De Gea is working with right now is several levels below what Schmeichel had here. I don't think Schmeichel could improve much of a defense consisting Smalling, Rojo or Blind. There's so much shouting and organizing you can do for shite defenders.
Im only 25 but van der Sar was pretty solid at his best. Had a much better defence in front of him though.....
Im not buying this nonsense about who plays in front of goalkeepers. Some of the best goal keepers of all time played with some of the best defenders. A keeper can't hide his inability behind a rock of a defense. All weaknesses get exposed over the course of a season, over the course of a career.
The best Gks in the world in past generations and now have always played for the best teams. Is Neuer not as good as De Gea because he plays with better defenders? He's the best goalie on earth! Buffon played with great players in his time as well. De Gea hasn't surpassed Schmeichel yet, and we probably won't see him do this at United
The best Gks in the world in past generations and now have always played for the best teams. Is Neuer not as good as De Gea because he plays with better defenders? He's the best goalie on earth! Buffon played with great players in his time as well. De Gea hasn't surpassed Schmeichel yet, and we probably won't see him do this at United
Best reflex-save keeper I've ever seen, even if he's not the best all-round GK currently or all-time for United.
There hasn't been a bigger character in goalkeeping in Europe than the great Dane
He'll be better when he actually wants to play for the club and doesn't go running away to Real. Skill wise they are equal, De Gea has better agility and reflexes while Schmeichel was better in the air and had better command of the area.
For what it's worth, my Real Madrid supporting students said they'd rather just keep Navas. I haven't watched them at all this season, but apparently he's been immense.
I've watched a fair amount of Navas this season and last and I have to admit he's been sensational. He's not at the level of De Gea but he's more than adequate for what Real needs.
I think the real issue with Real fans is that they don't want De Gea if it means losing a key player like Ronaldo or Bale. A perfectly reasonable position to hold in light of how great Navas has been for them.
highest fee for a keeper is Buffon , no shock there and that was £33m in 2001 DDG is worth more than that now, I would ask for no less than 50-55m maybe even 60m
Personally I disagree with Schmeichel being better in the air, DDG misses nothing in the air, not since his second season here, it's incredible to believe but honestly he doesn't anymore.
yep kicking is overrated when you can throw a ball well over half the length of the pitch & land it exactly where intended, where receiving player doesn't even have to break his stride.
Thread is reminding me of the old lindegaard v De Gea thread. There was plenty on there who though Andres was the better keeper. All those pointing out how Lindegaard commanded his area better, was better on crosses etc.
I shall maintain my stance, De Gea wouldn't have improved any of United sides Pete played in, but I believe Pete's leadership & communication skills would improve this current mob.
Schmeichel is arguably the best goalkeeper of all time. De Gea isn't close to that level yet.
De Gea is as good as it gets, up there with Schmeichel, but legend status only comes with longevity at the club. Here's hoping.
To be fair De Gea has already been here 5 years. Pete was only here for 8, not that much more. He's a legend because of what we achieved with him.
De Gea has been absolutely brilliant for United. He is clearly the best player at the club just now and claiming he's United's best ever keeper is not an outrageous call at all but Schmeichel was on another level. He was a world class keeper (one of the best ever) but was also a leader of a team that had a real winning mentality. Some of his saves were game and title changing moments. He is a club legend.
Van der Sar is a distant third and shouldn't even be in this conversation. He was a solid experienced keeper who saved what he should, commanded his area well and didn't make many mistakes. He was exactly what United needed behind that top class defence but for pure goalkeeping talent is nowhere near Schmeichel or De Gea.
Van der Sar is a distant third and shouldn't even be in this conversation. He was a solid experienced keeper who saved what he should, commanded his area well and didn't make many mistakes. He was exactly what United needed behind that top class defence but for pure goalkeeping talent is nowhere near Schmeichel or De Gea.
The crazy think about De Gea is that a clip of Schmeichel's greatest ever saves is like a clip of "De Gea's Best Saves in November".
Remember bug petes Gordon banks style save or his star jump save from the inter striker? Improbable saves
I couldn't call it either way to be honest. I could make a solid argument for either. I mainly came here to respond to the theory that De Gea's only been great for 2 seasons. A commentator in the Liverpool match said he's been playing at this level for 2 years now. Then I just read in this thread the same thing. Nonsense. Apart from maybe his first season, he's been consistently great (sure, there were a couple of bloopers in his second season, but which keeper doesn't make the occasional howler).
The only difference these past 2 or 3 years is that his greatness has stood alone in a field of mediocrity. We've absolutely needed him to be great.
The only difference these past 2 or 3 years is that his greatness has stood alone in a field of mediocrity. We've absolutely needed him to be great.
This is what pushed me to my stance. DDG pulls off these saves on a weekly basis.
DDG has plenty of improbable saves.
He's also a 1v1 monster too.
I'll give you distribution, Big Pete's throws were something else.
And goals, don't forget the goals
That's the real question, would Big Pete have done similar, had he shite in front of him.
He would have, until the 60th minute in a fit or rage he'd launch forward and go in two footed on Blind. (He'd solve our defensive issues by murdering our defenders until we got some top ones in.)
There's also something to be said for a keeper who has nothing to do for 89 minutes, but still has the concentration to make that one last minute game wining save. VDS was especially good at this, IMHO, watching him live off the ball was something else, constantly keeping limber, preparing just in case maybe the ball might perchance cross the halfway line for a moment.
Easily better than VDS. He's probably that Schmeichel ever was, too.
Best shot stopper of all time. Or at least, best shot stopper I have ever seen.
Best shot stopper of all time. Or at least, best shot stopper I have ever seen.
Still Big Pete for me.
DDG will be level with him when he does a cartwheel after a 93rd minute winner in the CL Final
DDG will be level with him when he does a cartwheel after a 93rd minute winner in the CL Final
Reactions are like nothing I've ever seen. The guy could catch a fly.
Still Big Pete for me.
DDG will be level with him when he does a cartwheel after a 93rd minute shot on target in the EL qualifier round
Fixed.
Hopefully he stays at United and gets to be part of a truly top class side. That's a very different thing compared to what he's done – and been part of – so far. He's operated, in practice, as the show stopping, point saving keeper of a second rate team – and he's been immense in that role.
But it's a different game at the top. You need something beyond show stopping, point saving displays. Often enough you don't have much to do – and then, boom, suddenly, you need to spring into action. Hard game to master. I'm sure he's up to that too, but he hasn't proven himself in that regard, so it's premature to call him our best ever keeper.
But it's a different game at the top. You need something beyond show stopping, point saving displays. Often enough you don't have much to do – and then, boom, suddenly, you need to spring into action. Hard game to master. I'm sure he's up to that too, but he hasn't proven himself in that regard, so it's premature to call him our best ever keeper.
True, we got Peter's best years, I doubt we'll get De Gea's much like we didn't get Ronaldo's.
De Gea is the best shot stopper. The game is substantially faster now than it was when Schmeichel was playing 20 years ago and Dave has less time to react and make those saves. And he has the Schmikes ability in one on ones, where he makes great saves with his feet and body.
Nobody will pay that, I guarantee it.
DDG may become(most likely to do so) the 1st player to win 3 Sir Matt Busby awards
You mean 3 in a row, right? No other keeper has even won it once.
He's definitely the best shot stopper, but I think he has by far the least presence out of the three, it would be interesting to see if he did leave if we looked more organised at the back with someone a bit more authoritative because I always thought that was VDS' strength (although admittedly it helped that he had far better players infront of him).
then we should not sell him, he is worth that all day long.
There were plenty of good keepers around in Schmeichel's time. During Schmeichel's time at United the likes of Seamen, Oliver Khan, VDS, Zubbizerretta, Zenga, Barthez and Toldo were all playing for top clubs and his end of United there were the likes of Buffon and Casillas just coming through. There was a time in the 90's when Ac Milan's keeper Rossi who played in three straight Champions league finals could not get a cap for Italy.
I look around the standard of keepers today and there's not a group of keepers around as good as that.
Back to comparison with Schmeichel. For me, De Gea has to do at the highest level to be even in the debate. Schmeichel was a keeper making saves which won European cups, Premiership titles and European championships when the pressure was a lot higher in the biggest games. For me, that worth far more in terms of legacy than making a lot of saves for a team challenging for 4th place. I've seen Schmeichel makes 8-10 saves a game against games against title rivals which have made the difference in winning league titles, save penalties in massive season defining games and make key saves which turned key games against the best the world had to offer.
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Unfortunately he won't want to stay and we'll have to let him go.
Schmeichel had plenty of games in his United career when he made 6-8 saves to keep United in the game. People just forget about it because we won so much as a team during his run. People might remember the Newcastle game at St James Park or the time he made several top saves from Ian Wright against Arsenal at Old Trafford but there's plenty more times he did that. People took him for granted.
Schmeichel also had plenty of games when he was inactive and still had the ability to pull off big saves which win games. Just watch the semis and final to the 1992 Euroes when he was facing Van Basten and Bergamp and then Germany with Klinsmann.
He also won everything you could win at the highest level in club football.
He can pretty much pass any litmus test you want to give with distinction.
The Dane for me...