Wanted to put this in a separate thread as a summary of exactly why replacing David de Gea should in fact be our no. 1 priority this summer. (Yes, a striker is crucial as well, but I'll get to that).
I'll just leave it here instead, and by chance it might spark some further debate -- going beyond "I want him to go because of his passing/I want him to stay because of his shot stopping or legendary status".
WHY AND HOW DE GEA IS OUR BIGGEST LIABILITY AND HINDRANCE TO EVOLVING OUR STYLE OF PLAY
De Gea is our biggest problem, and he has been for years.
De Gea's problem isn't the shot stopping, or the fact that he's prone to the occasional clanger.
Every single goalkeeper is prone to that, even the very best like Allison and Ederson.
The problem is much bigger than that.
He is the root of the entire issue of why we struggle to control games, and dominate possession. It all starts with him, and he gives away the ball all the time. We are without any chance to sustain control of the game against the better sides, when we have a goalkeeper who is unable to effectively recycle possession. It's like trying to play tennis with a smartphone.
De Gea will boot the ball into the opposition 9/10 times. Right there, we are losing an insane amount of possession.
And whenever we win it back, we hoof it to Rashford, who loses it frequently.
That's a hopeless tactic to sustain over a 38 game season, if we want to win the league.
It wastes too much energy, and sees us chasing the ball half the time, instead of controlling the game.
And that's without mentioning his complete lack of commanding the box and picking up dangerous crosses and high balls.
Or his inability to sweep and maintain a high line, allowing the rest of the team to maintain a high line and playing with possession in the final third.
He is statistically and anecdotally one of the the biggest liability for chances against in all of Europe's top 5 leagues because of this and his lack of ability on the ball.
We have one of the very worst possible goalkeeper for a possession based football side.
And at the same time, he is the best paid goalkeeper of all time, ever.
It's a catastrophic combo.
Teams like City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Brighton all average 60-65 percent possession throughout the entire season.
This means they effectively control their games most of the time, while also minimizing chances against, and maximizing chances created.
You can not concede if you have control.
And, you can't score when you don't have the ball.
Not to mention how much energy we waste trying to constantly regain possession.
No wonder we're often tired in the second half.
The team who has the ball always uses less energy.
How do the best teams do this? Simple, really...
They have a goalkeeper and a back four who can play and pass off the press and are press resistant.
Want to improve our team both defensively and offensively in a single act?
Replace David de Gea.
If you then add a striker, they will get the ball so much more, because we will have possession a lot more.
Add Kane or Osimhen to the side without replacing de Gea?
We will be marginally better, but our striker will have the exact same problem all of our strikers have had with de Gea in the team: They will see much less of the ball and get fewer chances, because we can't recycle possession effectively.
A lot of fans want us to challenge and improve de Gea, by bringing in a better no2.
But, if you think bringing in competition will significantly improve de Gea, you're missing the essential point.
Alas, it worked for Luke Shaw, some might say?
Yes, that worked because Shaw is inherently technically gifted and a great footballer with the ball in his feet, but is prone to motivational problems.
De Gea, on the other hand, lacks the technical and tactical acumen of a modern goalkeeper required to play possession based football.
No amount of "competition" can ever change that. In fact, at his age, no amount of coaching can significantly change that either.
When was the last time you saw a 30+ year old goalkeeper dramatically change his game? Hardly ever, if not never.
On top of all of this, sticking with de Gea means that we will continue to be:
1) Extremely susceptible to conceding chances and goals against on crosses and set pieces, because De Gea does not command his box.
He is scared and weak in aerial duels, and teams who cross are a constant threat.
We also lose so much possession by then having to clear the ball, because our keeper can't come out and claim it.
2) Weak and scared in 1v1.
He will never throw himself at the feet of attackers, to prevent them getting a shot off.
Instead, he will adapt this ludicrous hockey style stance by going down on one knee, effectively pinning him to the ground and becoming static, making him easy to score against.
3) Lacking in communication and directing his back line.
This spreads insecurity across the entire back line, and often leads to confusion.
A good keeper will always yell and show defenders where the best passing lanes are.
If you want him to stay, you clearly don't see why Ederson make City so dominant in possession, and why City are so dominant inside their own box, which then leads to them being dominant further up the pitch.
Yes, it's because their entire team is great in possession and press resistant. But without a solid backline and goalkeeper who also are just as good in possession, with passing, and being press resistant, it won't really matter that much if the midfield and attackers are.
The pro-De Gea agenda is mostly based on pure nostalgic love for his beautiful saves, and his time spent at the club.
Truth is, he is the exact same keeper he always was.
He has always had these weaknesses ever since he was at Atletico Madrid, and he will never change.
Even Spain's national team understand his glaring weaknesses will prevent them from playing modern football, and therefore he is not even considered good enough to be their third choice goalkeeper.
Add to all of this: He is the best paid goalkeeper in the history of football, and is a giant money sink for our club.
Even on his newly reduced wages at 200 000 GBP a week... Simply a terrible choice to want him to stay, in every conceivable way, including financially.
HOW REPLACING DE GEA WOULD DRASTICALLY IMPROVE OUR ATTACKING FOOTBALL, AND OVERALL PLAY
Replacing De Gea with a goalkeeper who can effectively recycle possession, means that we will have much more of the ball, which in turn means we can create more chances than if we don't have possession.
Then, you later add to that by replacing outfield players who are wasteful in possession, and finally add a quality striker.
Build from the back, and you will gain control of the games much faster. Always start by building from the back, and preferrably, with your goalkeeper and centre backs.
Build from the front, like many are suggesting, and we end up with a quality striker like Kane or Osimhen, who will then not even get the ball that much.
That's the exaxt same problem we've had with all of our strikers since after van Persie.
De Gea is by far our biggest problem and liability when it comes to controlling possession and dominating games, which eventually leads to chance creation and scoring.
De Gea boots the ball long so many times every game, that our midfield and attackers inevitably end up chasing the opponent.
It also adds to the problem of players getting tired and more injury prone, because of all the needless high energy running they have to do out of possession.
I'm not suggesting that simply replacing de Gea, whilst ignoring the need for better attacking players, will fix our issues of scoring goals. It won't.
But it would be the very first step to ensure that our attacking players actually have the chance to create more, by ensuring progression of possession -- from the back lines, to the front.
You can add prime Ronaldo, prime Kane, prime Henry, and prime Rashford to this team.
But without a solid baseline with a goalkeeper that acts as that extra ball playing defender to create overloads in our defense, we can't reach that dominance in games that teams like City, Liverpool and at times, Brighton, can.
So, it should be pretty obvious exactly why replacing de Gea should be our main priority.
It improves us not only defensively, but also offensively.
It improves our overall play, and makes us more dominant and possessive of the ball.
We will strengthen our ability to control games, all over the pitch.
Then, you add that final piece of the puzzle, the world class striker.
That striker's chance of actually getting the ball in good positions can only improve if we have more possession.
And replacing de Gea is the very first step to ensure we gain more possession.
THE PROBLEM WITH AFFORDING A WORLD CLASS GOALKEEPER
Allison and Ederson are today recognized as two of the very best goalkeepers in the world -- deservedly and rightfully so.
When Liverpool and Manchester City bought them, hardly anyone had even heard of them outside of their respective clubs' fanbases.
They were not considered anywhere near world class, outside of some well hidden metrics that no one was looking at, except the most fervent of stat-heads and scouting departments.
Well played Liverpool and City, that's some grade A scouting right there.
Barring we find a way to bring in almost a limitless cash flow (Qatar... that's another debate), or we do a Chelsea and tapdance our way around those FFP regulations, we might have to prioritize either a striker, or a goalkeeper.
Seeing as strikers are both:
a) Much harder to come by
b) More expensive
...It would be very wise to spend the money on a striker first. It's a gaping hole that everyone can agree needs to be filled. Arguably, we even need two new strikers.
The next move would then be to either do a proper worldie in the scouting market to find a fantastic, yet cheap, goalkeeper, something that our scouts never, ever do.
Our scouts landed on Wan-Bissaka as the best right back in the world out of a list of 800 potential targets. How? They obviously only looked at defensive stats to determine the worth of a full back based on a single skill trait: His 1v1 defending stats. Absolutely shocking scouting.
So, I don't trust our scouting department yet, even if it's been replaced. Maybe they can earn our trust this summer, but I reserve the right to not believe so.
Unless we can afford someone like Diogo Costa, or someone of similiar attributes, we can't just buy our way to a new number 1 this summer.
Many fans want want David Raya, and while good and a step up from de Gea, his passing and composure does actually leave a bit to be desired.
BUT, HE USED TO BE WORLD CLASS?!
An overwhelming majority of our fanbase still believe with utmost sincerity that David de Gea used to be a world class goalkeeper.
If you are one of those fans (you most likely are) you are defining "world class" based solely on shot stopping/goal prevention.
These stats do not take into account how many of these chances were either a direct or indirect consequence of his inability to:
a) Pass through the press, instead of hoofing it long and giving away possession.
b) Maintain a high sweeping line, enabling our midfield and attacking lines to further maintain higher pressing and counter-pressing lines.
c) Command his box, and collecting high balls before an opposing player could gain possession, or alternatively finish or score.
No one is denying his ability to stop shots.
And there is no doubt that during the 17/18-season, he stopped shots like a machine, with excellent PSxG.
But, it's still incredibly reductionist to call him a flat out "world class" goalkeeper, based on that stat alone, without taking into account the other parts of his game, that have been detrimental to our control of our game since he joined us from Atletico Madrid.
Even in his "best" seasons, he has still been a relatively poor:
1. Sweeper keeper.
2. High ball and cross collector.
3. Passing and ball handling keeper.
4. General commander of his box and back line.
So while most would agree that he was a fantastic shot stopper...
I am both anecdotally and factually inclined to strongly disagree that he was ever a "class" allround goalkeeper and footballer.
He just wasn't, isn't, or will ever be at his age.
Keepers like Neuer already revolutionized the role of a modern goalkeeper almost 20 years ago, leaving keepers like de Gea outdated, even before United signed him.
A POSSIBLE (SHORT-TERM) SOLUTION
Many of our fans don't rate (hate that word) Dean Henderson.
It's clear that they didn't really watch him at Sheffield United, in his back-to-back seasons.
He was their key player in securing promotion to the Premier League.
The following season, he was their key player in Sheffield United staying up by a comfortable margin.
He played every match that season in the Premier League, except of course for the two fixtures against United.
At the end of the season, he was among the top goalkeepers in the league across a wide variety of important metrics, even challenging the likes of Allison and Ederson.
When he then got a chance to fight against de Gea under Ole, he was only remembered for a couple of blunders. And yes, those were not good.
But, in his 26 games that season, he comfortably outperformed de Gea on almost every single stat, and conceded less than de Gea.
The defense -- which wasn't great, to be fair -- looked much more reassured and convincing when he played.
He made a string of world class saves, commanded his box, played out from the back more than de Gea, and was deservedly in the pipeline to be the starter for next season... then Covid hit. And it hit him hard. He contracted Long Covid, which kept him out of training for months.
De Gea was now back in goal, as there were no other viable options. He continued to play like he always does: Making beautiful saves, but not developing his awful attributes in every other area.
Henderson was loaned out again, this time to newly promoted Nottingham Forest. Quite frankly, one of the worst newly promoted teams we've seen in the Premier League the last decade, with a ramshackle squad consisting of no less than 23(!) new signings.
He still went on to become their most important player, consistently giving 8/10 performances. His matches against Spurs and Liverpool rank especially high.
Of course, Forest under Cooper have flat out refused to play out from the back, so his stats will not reflect his abilities with his feet, as he is forced to boot it long almost every single time.
But he kept delivering, and was at the start of the season after 10 rounds, among the top performing goalkeepers in the league.
Then injury hit, and Navas was brought in as an emergency replacement. It was estimated he would be back in March/April, and Cooper even said he would then be their no1 again, despite Navas still being at the club.
Navas is not a bad keeper, and has had a fantastic career. He is very athletic and energetic. But he is not doing well in the Premier League. He initially made some cracking saves, which is his game. But he is not enough of a presence with his small stature, and limited horizontal and vertical reach.
Henderson has now undergone surgery, and is likely to be fit for the pre-season, or at least in August.
Spending nothing on a new keeper, while allocating funds to a striker and perhaps a midfielder, seems like the smarter move.
I'd give him the next season to prove his worth, and let him be the no1 choice throughout, without a sulking de Gea breathing down his neck.
For those who don't think Henderson can hack it, my bet is you'll be comfortably surprised.
Those who have actually followed his career, and regularly watched his game (not just clips on YouTube or MOTD), know how good he is.
THE NOT-SO-IMPORTANT ISSUES THAT PISS SOME FANS OFF, BUT REALLY SHOULDN'T MATTER
I can understand some fans having reservations based on rumours that he was one of the leaks in the dressing room.
Might I remind you that there have been actually no proof of this.
What we do know is that the team line-ups are still leaking this season, and it is surely not Henderson leaking that.
We can assume Pogba leaked like a sieve, at least according to his brother and agent, who frequently spoke of United's inner operations in the media.
The only definitive proof of leaks we have is that Lingard was definitely leaking, because Scholes effectively outed him live on BT Sports.
There have been a ton of rumours that Rashford was among those who leaked, with a powerful PR team behind him. Countless stories of Rashford being dissatisfied with managers emerged on a yearly basis, and eventually led to Ole having to apologize and rescind some comments he had made about Rashford's focus due to his charity work.
Again, these claims are unsubstantiated. But no one gives Rashford any grief for it. So let's give the same nod to Henderson, another one of our youth products that we should be proud of, and has never had any substantiated claims of leaking anything against him.
He is the first actual goalkeeper in many years who has come through our academy, and developed into a quality Premier League goalkeeper.
Some fans will also have a thorn in their side because of his interview.
I watched the interview back then and right now before writing this, and I saw nothing wrong with it. He is being honest, and calling out Ole as a man manager. I would be just as pissed and open about it if I was him, and I undoubtedly still love our club.
After all we've heard from other players and sources regarding Solskjaer's man management, I am inclined to believe this.
Not to mention, if half of our fanbase can look past Mason Greenwood's... ehm, issues.
Then surely the majority of our fanbase can see past an interview with an angry Henderson calling out Ole.
And if not, good riddance.
