Is De Gea a bigger Man Utd legend than Peter Schmeichel?

This thread is blasphemy.

Personally, I think Peter is far superior to De Gea in every aspect of the game. When it comes to leadership, distribution, pace, reflexes, 1 v 1, control of the area and of course saving penalties, Peter is better.

Personal preferences aside... Peter won many more trophies than De Gea. Peter was never discarded by his national team because of poor form. BBC named Peter as the best goalkeeper in Premier League history. He is the only goalkeeper to win player of the year in the Premier League. He is also the only goalkeeper in PL history to be named best goalkeeper in the world on multiple occations.

So please. Close this thread.
I think being a Dane you're a tad biased there, the number of trophies won is as much down to the rest of your team as it is the goalkeeper, Peter won more partly because he had a better team around him

As it happens I think he overall was better than DDG but not at everything, the Great Dane never saved a penalty in the PL and only 3 in his career (shoot outs excluded) DDG has 13 career penalty saves including 5 in the PL
 
Pete Schmeichel is the greatest goalkeeper we've ever had. It's not even close really. VDS comes second. De Gea third. It's not even a debate.
 
Pete is the best goalie we’ve ever had but he did tarnish his legend status a little by playing for the blue shit over the road.
 
Schmeichel at his best was untouchable, but VDS had the highest "bottom level" - he was so damn consistent. DDG, while great for us over the years, is behind them both.
 
De Gea is the best United keeper of all time and has been for some time. He has won/saved us more points than Schmeichel & VDS put together
After comparing Antony to Giggs in the 90s and now this, I think its fair to say you're giving opinions on players you clearly didn't watch.

One hot take is bad enough but two and it shows you're just making it up.
 
Not a chance. DDG one of the most overrated gk of the last decade. I stand by the fact that after euro 2016 I think he was never the same player. Has returned to form this season a bit but let's not forget he's the highest paid gk in the world so you expect more from him.
It was the 2018 World Cup, but yes. He came directly from having his best ever season (17/18) to the World Cup where he absolutely shit the bed and was terrible,, and it seemed to break him mentally. He was simply never the same after that.
 


Watching this very depressing video and ... DDG would get slaughtered for some of the moments here from both VDS (Aurelio's free kick wasn't perfect, badly positioned for the Dossena lob, bad spill for Kuyt's hat trick) and Schmeichel (the first 2 goals in the 3-3 draw, not blatant errors but not unsaveable either).

David clearly isn't a "bigger legend" than those two - but some of the descriptions of their error-free or dominating performances are rose-tinted (I first got that feeling when watching 90s season reviews, a lot of questionable goals let in)*. And I think "good shot-stopper" undersells what David produced from 2013-18, week after week.

*- his distribution was astoundingly good, deserves the praise it is getting.
 
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Big Pete dominated his area, and was brilliant In one on one situations. He was a good shot stopper too. Basically the full package.

In addition, he had laser accurate long throws which could go beyond the halfway line and he struck fear into attackers. Not sure if the younger generation knows her used to be a handball goalie.
 
The way I measure keepers is based on their reliability. At no point during Schmeichel's career at Utd was anyone ever claiming he was not good enough. Unlike De Gea who's form has been questionable for a few years and had some awful Taibi moments, he's lucky we haven't replaced him. That in large part because of the obscene expensive contract we foolishly gave him. Had he been on a lesser contract he would have been sold 2 or 3 seasons back. Neither will I forgive his attempts to leave Utd before which people have forgotten about.

I won't get into technical stuff because all keepers have different skill sets, especially when comparing one era to another. Safe to say that Schmeichel would've been the best now and adapted because he was just that good. Even his son would've been a strong rival to De Gea given the chance here IMO, and he wasn't a patch on his father.
 
When De Gea draws curtains on his United time, he won't be considered half the goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel was. Lack of trophies, lack of agility, plenty of silly errors, and a general lack of leadership qualities keep him miles off Schemichel's career. If only we had more ambitious owners, De Gea would have been sold for a better goalie many seasons back.
 
After comparing Antony to Giggs in the 90s and now this, I think its fair to say you're giving opinions on players you clearly didn't watch.

One hot take is bad enough but two and it shows you're just making it up.
If you reread my Antony to Giggs comparison it might make sense at what I was getting at.

de Gea has a couple more league titles 100% more people agree with me.
 
de Gea has a couple more league titles 100% more people agree with me.
A few more league titles might have moved De Gea ahead of VDS in the eyes of many. But Schmeichel was on a whole other level. The only keeper in PL history who looked like he might have reached that level was Cech before the head injury. Peak DDG would have been amongst the keepers fighting for 3rd after those two, but his huge drop-off over the last five years does hurt his standing there.
 
I think being a Dane you're a tad biased there, the number of trophies won is as much down to the rest of your team as it is the goalkeeper, Peter won more partly because he had a better team around him

As it happens I think he overall was better than DDG but not at everything, the Great Dane never saved a penalty in the PL and only 3 in his career (shoot outs excluded) DDG has 13 career penalty saves including 5 in the PL
You'd rather have DDG over Big Pete to save a crucial penalty? No fecking way.
 
Complete and utter rubbish, DDG will NEVER be better than Big Pete, he has more presence in the box, was more vocal than DDG will ever be, VDS is the same.
Big Pete and VDS ad little in the way of weaknesses , both could actually save penalties.
No, I think you are seriously deluded if you think he is better than either, FFS I would have Alex Stepney very close to DDG and he could not even get close to Pete and VDS.
Said this before, for me DDG may not even be in top three of United keepers ever. Given the teams he played in and the state of pitches and the ball (and how much keepers could be fouled), I'd think very hard about putting Gary Bailey ahead of DDG
 
Schmeichel for me although De Gea has been an excellent keeper too. Newcastle away 1 nil Cantona always springs to mind when debating this question. Schmeichel was unbeatable that night
 


Watching this very depressing video and ... DDG would get slaughtered for some of the moments here from both VDS (Aurelio's free kick wasn't perfect, badly positioned for the Dossena lob, bad spill for Kuyt's hat trick) and Schmeichel (the first 2 goals in the 3-3 draw, not blatant errors but not unsaveable either).

David clearly isn't a "bigger legend" than those two - but some of the descriptions of their error-free or dominating performances are rose-tinted (I first got that feeling when watching 90s season reviews, a lot of questionable goals let in)*. And I think "good shot-stopper" undersells what David produced from 2013-18, week after week.

*- his distribution was astoundingly good, deserves the praise it is getting.


Both Schmeichel and Van Der Sar definitely benefit from not having had their errors and weaknesses combed through, torn apart and documented in statistical and minute detail.

Brilliant players both but certainly not as infallible as some of the write-ups of them suggest.
 
Both Schmeichel and Van Der Sar definitely benefit from not having had their errors and weaknesses combed through, torn apart and documented in statistical and minute detail.

Brilliant players both but certainly not as infallible as some of the write-ups of them suggest.

Exactly. Pete and Edwin deserve the reputations they enjoy, but both coughed up mistakes (Pete more than Edwin) that Dave gets shredded for in the social media age, which didn’t exist during their playing careers. It is Dave, Edwin and Dave in that order, but not by the vast chasm alleged by sone here.
 
I didn't say that, try reading again
You said you think big Pete is better but not at everything then you mentioned PL penalty saves as something Dave is better at. So do you think DDG is a better penalty saver than big Pete or not?
 
Depends how old you are.

Schmeichel is on par with Cantona and Keane by older united fans I know and rightfully so.

De Gea has been here for like 12 years and won't get the fanfare that Schmeichel did but he is still with us and could easily end up with more appearances for the club than anyone bar 5 or 6 people. If that doesn't make you a legend for the club then I don't know what will. De Gea may not be as popular as big Pete but he is a certified legend.
 
You said you think big Pete is better but not at everything then you mentioned PL penalty saves as something Dave is better at. So do you think DDG is a better penalty saver than big Pete or not?
Well history suggests he is, and those were career stats not PL, but big Pete is still is still my top choice as best United keeper
 
Depends how old you are.

Schmeichel is on par with Cantona and Keane by older united fans I know and rightfully so.

De Gea has been here for like 12 years and won't get the fanfare that Schmeichel did but he is still with us and could easily end up with more appearances for the club than anyone bar 5 or 6 people. If that doesn't make you a legend for the club then I don't know what will. De Gea may not be as popular as big Pete but he is a certified legend.
Has nothing to do with how old you are, the question is DDG a bigger legend, the answer, IMO, is no but that doesn't mean he's not a legend
 
He fecked off on a moped after an Aston Villa game, Angel stayed late signing an autograph for everyone.
 
Has nothing to do with how old you are, the question is DDG a bigger legend, the answer, IMO, is no but that doesn't mean he's not a legend
You're right if using stats but the criteria for being a 'legend' is very subjective and different age group fans will have differing opinions on who are club legends.
 
Well history suggests he is, and those were career stats not PL, but big Pete is still is still my top choice as best United keeper
You still haven't answered the question. Penalty against united 90th minute cup final or crucial league game, who are you picking between the two?
 
You said you think big Pete is better but not at everything then you mentioned PL penalty saves as something Dave is better at. So do you think DDG is a better penalty saver than big Pete or not?

This is a very straightforward question if anyone has their respectice penalty records?
 
This is a very straightforward question if anyone has their respectice penalty records?
Which was on my ealier post - PS saved 3 career non-shootout penalties, DDG has 13
 
You're right if using stats but the criteria for being a 'legend' is very subjective and different age group fans will have differing opinions on who are club legends.
I think the both are legends but if there had to be just 1 then Pete would be my choice
 
I think the both are legends but if there had to be just 1 then Pete would be my choice
Schmeichel was Godly from what I remember, on par with Keane and Cantona in many peoples eyes. Which begs the question - why did he join City? Some people still joke they never forgive him for that but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as city were shit and he had a nice house in Bramhall and Kasper was playing City at that point I think.

Schmeichel was the best keeper we've ever had for me but De Gea is a club legend through and through and will retire with more appearances for us than anyone bar 5 or 6 players.

Both legends.
 
Data from Transfermrkt, excluding shoot-outs.
Peter Schmeichel: 3 saved, 34 non-saved
David De Gea: 13 saved, 59 non-saved

So assuming those are correct then Schmeichel saved 8.1% while De Gea saved 18.05%.

So unless there's been a general trend towards more penalties being saved over the years, De Gea was obviously better at penalties.

And (again assuming those numbers are correct), it highlights what I meant above about Schmeichel/Van Der Sar benefiting from not having their game forensically ripped apart statistically. Because that seems a remarkably bad record on Schmeichel's part.
 
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