In David We Trust - the de Gea Thread

Johno hasn't done it at the top level. One time Incighte had to jump out of a burning plane at 15,000ft with only a boot bag for a parachute. He shattered both legs on impact and still got man of the match playing box to box midfield for a full 90 plus ET, carrying some lazy French Canadian haircut. Don't believe me? Just ask @Womincighte to tell you about the best night of her life.

 

You mean tscgirl? Unless incighte was posting both as tsc boy and girl.

 

Just hoping he can put this latest mishap behind him. He finished the game very strong, making a couple of key (and high quality) saves but his error early still contributed in us dropping a couple of points on the day. His overall form has improved though this season compared to last term, so there's hope he could still regain his supreme form of a few years. Still want to believe in the guy based on that factor alone.
Ole has always done right by Dave, protecting and supporting him to the hilt, so hopefully that will be enough to help him get back to his best or close to it. Not even asking him to revert to the guy he was 2-3yrs ago: just need to cut out the stupid mental mistakes. For now that should be more than enough.
Just do not want to be talking about him being a reason for us missing out on top 4, as was the case last season.

 

I’m not sure what we do about Dave. No way we sell him because there are no buyers. But if he keeps this form, we need to act. Especially with Henderson waiting in the wings.

What’s weird about Dave’s form is that his mistakes aren’t physical. He still has world class range and reactions. His mistakes all seem to be mental. Waiting too long against Everton and other mistakes showing lack of concentration. Not sure how we get him out of this funk.

 

Bring back the old gk coach

 

More caffeine b4 games.

 

Move De Gea to striker or midfield or the wing or the scrap heap. He's done as an elite goalkeeper. He's not mentally cut out for life at the top (any more). It sucks we paid him all this money, we won't be able to move him which has effectively ********ed it.

De Gea's save percentage is bad and the quality of shots he's faced isn't especially good. Dean Henderson is currently a better goalkeeper than DDG is and he's 7 years his junior.

 

So you agree that his fall from the top is down to mental issues rather than physical decline?

 

Solskjaer on Dean Henderson challenging De Gea for number one: "That's Man Utd! You should have a nice problem, you should have two or three challenging for the same positions. That's what we are trying to get to." #muzone [Sky] pic.twitter.com/B40egLMsqi

— United Zone (@ManUnitedZone_) March 5, 2020

 

When was the last time England produced a good goalie? Seaman ? Not World class .. Dont bank on Henderson

 

Was much better today. Looked focused.

 

Hendo says he doesn't want to come back to sit the bench. Not sure he's got control over that, but at the very least we have to give him a shot at the starting role.

 

Dear lord, David.

#coronabeard

 

What has happened to him? It would be unfair to completely put Bergwijn's goal on him (with the collection of mistakes in the run up to it), but he still should have done better himself.
The Dave of old would have saved that in all likelihood. He did well on Son's chance but this is a guy who used to be lights out for us and really saved us countless of times. Mistakes, especially higher profile ones, have become more frequent and it really is a worry.
We better hope he can step it up in the remaining games, with CL qualification on the line. Don't think it's out of bounds to say that the rest of the campaign could go some way in deciding his future and what Ole has to do in terms of the position as soon as next season.
If he proves shaky, as he did at the end of last season, I'd cancel any ideas of sending Henderson back on loan again and I'd have him at the club, with a genuine chance at becoming our #1 sooner rather than later. Don't know if we'll ever get the old Dave back, but he has to, at least, be more consistent in his displays.

 

Johno will probably have his views. But the De Gea of old is kicking that away, not trying to use his hands. It looked ********ing awkward, and sure enough it didn't work.

We employed a new keeping coach in June 2019. I'm not sure who was senior GK coach for the year before that, but De Gea was bad then too. We all know that a world class De Gea means we're comfortably 4th right now, closer to Leicester than Chelsea. Either it's a coaching issue and De Gea has developed some bad habits (which we definitely don't want Hendo picking up too), or we need to make a much bigger decision.

 

Henderson is already elite. He's not top 3 or 4, but he's the next tier down as far as shot stopping is concerned. That's based on data... there are models and such that do a fairly good job of examining gk performance and in terms of shot stopping he's damned damned good. He's young still, so he could get even better.

There's a ton of talent in the underage teams at GK anyway. I think we're set at GK for the next little while.

 

The only real question as far as Henderson is concerned is whether he's truly ready to handle a job of being United's #1. Would be tempted to say yes but you just never know and it would be a shame to ruin him because we rushed him along.
His current career progression was practically ideal, even more so if he were to spend another season on loan (preferably at Sheffield where he's already comfortable).
But if Dave keeps on proving shaky and not as reliable as he used to, Ole may have little choice but to recall him to compete for the #1 shirt as soon as next season. Have to hope that Dave can recover some kind of consistent form but the relative frequency of his errors and uneven displays are now getting to the point where we really have to worry.
To make matters worse, his contract is no help either if he happen to lose his job with us. Very difficult to move him, unless he's up for it. Also, any hint that we may be seeing a repeat of last season when his form tailed off towards the end of the season, Ole can't mess around this time and Romero needs figure more even in league games.

 

De Gea's bad form is more than a blip - GNev

https://www.skysports.com/football/...-form-more-than-just-a-blip-says-gary-neville

 

This is going to be a problem next year. Henderson isnt going to be ok with coming back and sitting on the bench now that hes had some experience starting every week and being successful. Especially if he has interest from clubs like Chelsea as is rumored.

Next season we have to make a decision with Dave and Hendo. Do we back DDG and hope he returns to elite form and probably lose Henderson? Or do we try and move him and hand the reigns to Henderson in hopes that he makes the next jump into being a top level GK?

Unfortunately I cant see us trying to move on from DDG, even though the writing is on the wall. Like G Nev said recently, hes not in a patch of bad form...this shit has been going on for over a year. Ive said it before but the odd part is that the errors hes making arent indicative of a natural physical decline. They are mental errors where hes losing concentration on routine saves. His elite range is still there as seen in the save he made against Son this past weekend. I dont know if a GK coach change is needed or how to right the ship.

I know what we cant do, and what I'm afraid we'll try to do, is what Madrid did with Keylor and Casillas when Iker started to fall off. And that is keep both and attempt to split minutes. GKs dont tend to react well to those situations and we risk alienating both of them.

Personally I would hope we move on from Dave next summer as his form doesnt justify his wages and it would improve our drive to get younger. With that said, I doubt that happens unless Dave really tanks hard to end the year. He has a giant contract and I dont see anyone willing to take that on in form of a loan or give him anything comparable. Our only hope, IMO, would be if PSG make a move. It'll be interesting to see how we handle this next season.

 

🗞 David de Gea will have until the end of the season until a decision is made on Dean Henderson competing to be No 1 at #mufc. It is understood the call on Dean Henderson will be made when the final eight games of his campaign are completed. #udlatest [Telegraph]

— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) June 22, 2020

Correct call. Our options with him might be limited due to the nature of his contract but at the same time, Ole can just sit there and do nothing if he still proves inconsistent or prone to big mistakes.
The ideal situation is still for him to sort himself out and remain our #1 for the short term, thus giving Henderson the opportunity to further his development while on loan for at least another season.
But if the signs from Dave are not good by season's end, Ole's hands will be forced and Henderson will have to be recalled to at least challenge Dave for #1 job.

 

Henderson makes mistakes too. He had a poor game vs Newcastle, he conceded an absolute howler against Liverpool, and conceded a very soft one vs Watford.







His shot stopping figures will go down for us, our defending is better than De Gea had to compensate for at his peak. What we really need is someone who is consistent and reliable, under varying levels of game involvement. Maybe Henderson will step up and provide that but it's not cut and dry. If De Gea was to leave then I'd be fine with Henderson stepping up - but the fact that people want him to replace De Gea because of De Gea's mistakes, speaks to the differing levels of scrutiny when you're at a newly promoted club vs Man Utd.

 

Ole clearly putting an arm around Dave's shoulders and still showing him very strong public support. Let's hope that he can respond in kind. Can't have a repeat of his form towards the end of last season.
https://www.skysports.com/football/...anchester-united-manager-ole-gunnar-solskjaer

 

I think when you're 23 and still growing as a player some inconsistency is to be expected. When you are 30 and develop inconsistency its worrying. You mention the different scrutiny between DDG v Henderson because of the club they play for but thats not the whole picture. One is in his first year starting for a PL club at the age of 23 and has 1 clear error leading to a goal but has otherwise been very sound. The other is the highest paid GK in the world who for over a year has been widely inconsistent and is 2nd in the league with most errors leading to goals with 3. The year before that he was also 2nd in the league in errors leading to a goal with 4. While I get that Dave has bailed us out a lot over the years, the fact remains in the last two seasons he is directly responsible for 7 goals against...which leads all goalkeepers in that time period. Let that sink in.

Henderson will most likely never be DDG level or maybe even not a tier below that. But we cant keep pushing forward with a guy making 370k per week that is barely performing like a top half of the league GK. His quality has dipped too long to just be a blip. Its starting to feel like the new normal.