Martin Dubravka | signs for United

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Annihilate Now! said:
We're expecting him to be a solid stand-in for cup games and for any potential long run should DDG get injured.

I don't think anyone expects him to displace De Gea... that should happen next summer when we properly invest in a goalkeeper.
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We have Heaton for that. Otherwise, why is he here?

I read some already expecting this guy to replace DDG.
 
Thom Merrilin said:
I think this is a very good signing. He's good enough to challenge De Gea for a starting spot and it's only a loan with no obligation.

If he's crap then we let him go back to Newcastle but if he performs, 5mil is nothing for a decent goalkeeper.
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Agree. Good bit of business and he was Newcastles player of the season a couple of years ago and full international. Good age for a keeper as experience is important in that position. Friedel, Howard and VDS all improved in mid 30's. If he can command his area and is better with his feet than DDG then he has a real chance of becoming number one, at least for this season.

ETH cannot implement his preferred style of player while DDG is in goals.
 
Isotope said:
We have Heaton for that. Otherwise, why is he here?

I read some already expecting this guy to replace DDG.
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To be a third choice keeper.

If De Gea got injured for several months - we should not be in a position where Tom Heaton is our main goalkeeper.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
To be a third choice keeper.

If De Gea got injured for several months - we should not be in a position where Tom Heaton is our main goalkeeper.
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It's just weird, the 2nd and 3rd Gk are 33 and 36 y.o. But it's another cheap buy/loan, and hopefully the one that EtH spotted (highly doubt it, though).
 
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Isotope said:
It's just weird, the 2nd and 3rd Gk are 33 and 36 y.o. But it's another cheap buy, and hopefully the one that EtH spotted (highly doubt it, though).
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Well Dubravka was at least a starting Premier League goalkeeper last year, so better to be relying on him in a bind then Heaton. It's only a loan too so it works as a stop gap until next summer (though I can see him being our number two for a few years)
 
2 man midfield said:
I’m really pleased with this signing. Initial loan, option to buy for a low fee, decent age, will put a rocket up De Gea, can play out from the back, and I always hated playing against him. Dare I say it - the way I always hated us playing against Fulham when Edwin was in goal for them.
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This
 
Adamsk7 said:
I’m really pleased with this. I know there’s a De Gea agenda, there was one even last season when he was one of only two players that performed, but to me I don’t see why we’d replace our longest serving player and the only person (other than Jones I guess) who’s won a league with us without giving him a chance to play the way Ten Hag wants (whatever that is!) and by chance I mean more than four games where he’s been shocking in one but perfectly fine in the other three. For me he’s still the best shot stopper out there and his other “deficiencies” are always largely over exaggerated. I’m sure I’ll get absolute pelters for this opinion though!

Dubravka is a VERY solid no.2 that’s a little more “sweeper keeper” but still not remotely in the same vein as say Allison. That tells me two things - 1) maybe Ten Hag doesn’t want or have to play with keepers where this is their main strength 2) maybe there just aren’t many out there that can do it at an elite level.

This signing gives us a solid (IMO) two and a solid third in Heaton. De Gea can improve his game with real competition and it does give Ten Hag the opportunity to see different styles in our team and work out what’s best for US (not what was best for Ajax).

Henderson is getting sold because he’s just above average and no way good enough to be our first choice when we are back to where we want to be. He’s also a whiny little bi*ch
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The role of the modern goalkeeper is pretty straightforward to define and therefore judge a player’s quality. They must prevent shots, save them if they can’t prevent them and be a useful part of build-up.

Starting with shot prevention, this is principally made up of sweeping and claiming crosses. On both of these, De Gea is the worst in the Premier League and amongst the worst in Europe. It makes us weak on set pieces and forces our defensive line back, preventing us from pressing effectively. This is borne out both statistically and with the eye test, there can be no argument here. Dubravka is above average at claiming crosses (so miles ahead of De Gea) and better than De Gea last season at sweeping without being anything special, though this could be because Newcastle played a very low block for half the season.

On shot-stopping, the increasing number of mistakes that De Gea has made over the last three years offsets his superhuman saves, to the extent that Dubravka has saved more goals relative to post shot xG than De Gea in the last year. On average, Dubravka ranks higher than De Gea on this metric over the last four seasons. The last time De Gea did better than him was 17/18, his last truly great season.

Finally, on build-up and distribution, neither is great with short passing, though again, Dubravka has played in a pretty unprogressive side for the last few years so this could be a mitigation. Long passing is in his favour by miles, with a much higher completion rate, though he’s had more space to play into and more aerially dominant players to target.

All that being said, I do not think Dubravka is the answer long-term. What I am saying is that De Gea is easy to improve from, because he is bad to terrible at two thirds of the job and is no longer unimpeachable at the one thing he is/was great at. No agenda is necessary. Dubravka could easily displace De Gea for a season, and next summer we target Mike Maignan, Robert Sanchez, David Raya or Pau Lopes (in descending order of price and preference) for a keeper who is balanced and capable in all three areas.
 
Decent signing that will put slight pressure on DDG and allow us to have a different type of GK during training, helping ETH implement his style. Don't see him having a real chance to unseat DDG, but hey, if he performs in the chances given, ETH has shown he's willing to sit the likes of Ronaldo and Maguire, so who knows. I see only positive upside for this one.
 
He's underrated, so his chances of displacing De Gea could rise with not much pressure on him.
 
Probably just going to be used as backup, which is fine I guess. I would think if we were bringing in someone to challenge DDG it would be someone with a different profile i.e. someone good with their feet. Dubravka seems just more of the same. More commanding of the box but a worse shot stopper (unless DDG starts chucking them in our goal again for fun).
 
gza the genius said:
Probably just going to be used as backup, which is fine I guess. I would think if we were bringing in someone to challenge DDG it would be someone with a different profile i.e. someone good with their feet. Dubravka seems just more of the same. More commanding of the box but a worse shot stopper (unless DDG starts chucking them in our goal again for fun).
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Where’s this coming from that he’s not good with his feet? He was literally told that he was good enough on the ball he should change from being a keeper to a winger
I think he may surprise some people
 
Really like this signing. More than capable backup and gives us the option to look again at Henderson next year if necessary.
 
golden_blunder said:
Where’s this coming from that he’s not good with his feet? He was literally told that he was good enough on the ball he should change from being a keeper to a winger
I think he may surprise some people
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I've only really casually watched Newcastle so I'm just going off of that, could just have been a symptom of how Newcastle play. Hopefully you're right. It's a good short term signing either way.
 
gza the genius said:
I've only really casually watched Newcastle so I'm just going off of that, could just have been a symptom of how Newcastle play. Hopefully you're right. It's a good short term signing either way.
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Oh I replied to you just because I saw a few people say the same, time will tell of course
 
No real downside to this deal. Just not as much upside as we may have wanted.
 
Can't believe the way his career has rocketed.
I remember him from his time in the Danish league 6-7 years ago. He was a very underwhelming goalkeepoer in a team fighting relegation. A club that since has had a major downfall similar to Sunderland.
 
If he can be the extra player in build up and is happy to keep behind a high line he will be our number1.

There is no way ETH is gonna spend all season covering for de geas obvious flaws playing route one football and defending in a mid/low block. Hopefully Dubrakva is Good enough in those departments that we can fully Implement Ten Hag Ball without it being a complete disaster.
 
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Zoo said:
Should be a smart addition.
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He is capable to replace De Gea immediately. He didn’t want to be number 2 in Newcastle as he feels betrayed. He has been their best player for three years and he single-handedly saved their ass in Premier league twice. They brought Pope and without getting a chance he was benched. He is very good goalkeeper (not best 10) and for that price it’s a bargain signing of the year.
 
JB7 said:
No I understand that, I'm just making the point clubs usually refer to everything as rumours until it's confirmed.
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Ah ok. Have we not announced anything officially with regards to Dubravka? Not a standard 'Deal agreed prior to personal terms being completed and successful completion of a medical' etc?
 
Remember the geese said:
Ah ok. Have we not announced anything officially with regards to Dubravka? Not a standard 'Deal agreed prior to personal terms being completed and successful completion of a medical' etc?
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No nothing, that's why I thought it was so odd. It even made me check the website to see if we'd announced something and I'd missed it.
 
Pronewbie said:
Includes highlights of his distribution and 1-on-1s
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As much as I hate Jonjo Shelvey, watch him in this clip... he is ALWAYS showing for the ball from the goalkeeper and if not in a position directing where Dubravka should play it.. He is the exact opposite of what McTominay offers who constantly runs/hides from the play.. Hopefully Casemiro would be the one building out from the back.
 
Marcelinho87 said:
As much as I hate Jonjo Shelvey, watch him in this clip... he is ALWAYS showing for the ball from the goalkeeper and if not in a position directing where Dubravka should play it.. He is the exact opposite of what McTominay offers who constantly runs/hides from the play.. Hopefully Casemiro would be the one building out from the back.
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People like to meme about Shelvey but he is a solid Prem midfielder that knows how to pass and find space for himself
 
Has this guy signed or what?

We are honestly the worst club when it comes to announcing transfers/getting them over the line.

A 33 past his best keeper from Newcastle with zero competition and it still takes forever.

Good backup to de gea though.
 
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