Challenges facing De Gea

Thursday, 30/06/2011

by Amit Mistry, Shoot's Manchester United blogger

The latest Manchester United signing is Spain Under-21 keeper David De Gea. He becomes the second-most expensive goalkeeper signing at a reported £18.9m. Touted as becoming one of the world’s best goalkeepers, the signing of De Gea may prove to be one of Ferguson’s best-ever signings.

But arriving with a high price tag comes great expectation and pressure to deliver. He has a hard act to follow in terms of filling the gap from Edwin van der Sar. De Gea may be one the best young keepers in Europe at the moment, he is still under-experienced in comparison to Edwin when he joined United as he was already a seasoned professional over the age of 30.

However, De Gea did maintain 24 clean sheets out of 45 games in La Liga, which is still one the toughest leagues in the world. This is very promising as United have prided themselves in having an excellent defensive record in England and Europe, and De Gea will want to maintain this standard.

At a tender age of 20 years, it is imperative that he can command the back four, in which three of them are a lot older than him. Good communication with them will be vital, and he will need to provide confidence also to the back four that he can be a reliable last line of defence.

Also his form cannot wane and must consistently provide assured performances. The odd blip which does not result in defeat may be forgiven, but a downward spiral will mean the exit door as seen with Tim Howard who did start well, but never recovered from that fatal flaw in the Champions League against FC Porto.

However in  De Gea’s favour, he has experienced winning ways and will have that winning mentality as he won the Europa League and UEFA Super Cup with Atletico Madrid and has recently won the Under-21 European Championships with Spain. This will give him the confidence to step into such a high profile role at one of the world’s biggest clubs.

It is a surprise that Ferguson has opted for a young keeper, but if you look at the circumstances objectively, he had little choice. Gianluigi Buffon has stated very clearly that he does not want to leave Juventus; Maarten Stekelenberg may not have been convincing enough for Ferguson to part with cash; whilst Jose Pepe Reina is unlikely to be allowed to move to Liverpool’s fiercest rivals.

With four goalkeepers on the books at Old Trafford, it is highly likely one will leave. Anders Lindegaard has only joined United within the last 12 months whilst Ben Amos is a home-grown backup. That leaves Tomasz Kuszczak who could be on his way out. His last match against Blackburn was very shaky and lacked confidence. That type of performance is not tolerable at United and Kuszczak himself will want to leave United to gain regular first team football.

A lot of positive recommendations have been made of this young Spanish keeper, and he could fulfil the role as Edwin’s heir with great pride. De Gea could become one of the greatest keepers to ever grace Old Trafford or he could become another expensive mistake.

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