Not even the most stringent of United fans would argue that the beginning of David De Gea’s career at United has been perfect. The reality is that it hasn’t been. However, some of the reporting following the Community Shield and West Brom game was ridiculous.
After defeating Man City at Wembley, pundits, writers, and fans alike questioned the ability of the young Spanish star. Following another mistake against West Brom, the masses went into overdrive. Comparisons were being drawn with Massimo Taibi, who suffered an ill-fated spell at United in 1999. Comparing De Gea to Taibi after two games is beyond ridiculous.
I watched in amazement/fury as Jamie Redknapp lambasted De Gea after his error against West Brom. It was a mistake sure and De Gea would expect himself to do better of course, but the biggest howler you are likely to see a goalkeeper make? Give me a break Jamie you complete fool. Redknapp continued to ramble about De Gea’s failings thereafter but he did make one point with which I agree. The Spaniard does need to put on a bit of muscle mass as he still does look a little slight for the Premier League and that is one of the reasons he hasn’t been as dominant as he would have liked when high balls have come into the box.
All the stat men came out of the woodwork of course saying things like De Gea conceeded 11 goals from outside the box last season and that is is an extraordinarily high amount. From what I saw of Athletico last season, he looked to be playing well.
I am not saying De Gea is the finisihed article, not by any stretch. He has looked a little nervous since his arrival, as you would be coming to the biggest club in the world for a large fee at such a young age. Lest we forget that De Gea is 20 years old. All the ability is there and there is no doubt in my mind there he will grow into a top class keeper in the very short term.
The clean sheet against Spurs will do him the world of good and he has plenty of top defenders around him to help him along the way. Given his relative infancy, we may see a couple of more errors throughout the course of the season; just don’t buy into the hysteria in the media that will accompany them. There will be plenty of outstanding moments too. Let us remind ourselves of just how good he is:
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He is definitely not the finished article, he has another 15 years at least to improve. In the first half against Spurs the other day he looked very comfortable. There was a couple of shots from outside the box that he held well and he never looked panicked when the ball came to his feet.
I think he will be fine, unless he has a few weeks of howlers in a row then it is important for his confidence that he is first choice!
You say Redknapp ‘lambasted’ the kid, what did he actually say?
Redknapp is a good pundit on Sky & his views are usually well warranted.
He was a brilliant footballer too who, if he’d have had more luck with injuries, could have been great. Show some respect, he’s far from a fool & you couldn’t lace his boots.
Pass & move- totally disagree. I think Redknapp is a shite pundit in all honesty and a COMPLETE fool.
Agreed, Redknapp is a complete bellend