Shaky De Gea has no choice but to man up

16 August 2011 11:26
TEAMtalk's Ian Watson argues that it is far too soon to write off David De Gea, but the Manchester United new boy has to man up immediately.[LNB] Such is the way goalkeepers are judged, Swansea stopper Michael Vorm is already viewed by some as one of the bargains of the season, while David De Gea has been left sifting through the wreckage of his reputation since his Premier League debut. [LNB]Labelling the Manchester United goalkeeper as a flop is staggeringly premature, but regardless of his tender age, De Gea finds himself in a sink-or-swim situation, and a rapid improvement is needed if the 20-year-old is to keep his head above water.[LNB]De Gea has been beaten three times in his first two high-profile United appearances, with the blame for two of those goals landing at the feet of the Spaniard. Unforgivingly, the goalkeeper has already been pinpointed as a weakness, and West Brom will not be the last opponent to set out to test his mental and physical strength, especially if other referees are as content as Mike Jones was at The Hawthorns to allow De Gea to be roughed up.[LNB]Regardless of whether or not he got the protection he deserved, De Gea hardly exuded confidence in United's Premier League opener. Understandable, perhaps, from one so young. But mental strength is one of the qualities the Atletico Madrid academy graduate is supposed to possess in abundance. His psychological fortitude remains unclear, but it certainly won't for long.[LNB]Neither of De Gea's big mistakes have ultimately proved too costly, though, and unsurprisingly, Sir Alex Ferguson has fought his young keeper's corner. Despite comparisons rarely helping, the manager likened De Gea's shaky start to the great Peter Schmeichel's introduction to England.[LNB]The parallels, though, do not really exist.[LNB]Schmeichel began his career at Old Trafford with four clean sheets before gifting Leeds United's Lee Chapman an open goal in front of the Stretford End. Wimbledon then made life extremely difficult for the Dane a few days later, but United's greatest-ever goalkeeper then proved his resilience by conceding just two goals in his next five games.[LNB]That is not to say De Gea cannot do the same over the coming weeks, but the crucial difference with Schmeichel - and Ferguson's other goalkeeping success stories - is experience. [LNB]Schmeichel was 27 when he arrived at United for a shade over £500,000 two decades ago - four months before De Gea was born - and had already amassed over 40 international caps with Denmark.[LNB]De Gea, by comparison, is a baby in goalkeeping terms. But Ferguson knew the risks when he gambled on the Spain Under-21 international replacing another goalkeeping legend - Edwin van der Sar.[LNB]Filling the retiring Dutchman's gloves was always going to be an impossible job, and it was not just a safe pair of hands that Ferguson was concerned about replacing, but also the 40-year-old's range of passing.[LNB]Distribution is undeniably a strength of De Gea, and with United goalkeepers spending more time with the ball at their feet rather than their hands these days, it is essential van der Sar's replacement is as comfortable starting United's attacks as he is stopping the opposition's.[LNB]Is De Gea, though, the first multi-million-pound goalkeeper to be bought more for his attacking threat than his defensive talents?[LNB]Ferguson does not hide his desire for value in the transfer market, but £18million for the relatively untested De Gea does not yet appear to be the savviest of investments. Roma's purchase of 28-year-old Maarten Stekelenburg - a safe pair of hands capped 40 times for Holland - for less than a third of De Gea's price, however, screams 'bargain'.[LNB]Glaring though De Gea's errors have been, the consolation is that they should be simple to rectify. Edin Dzeko unleashed his 30-yard ripsnorter at Wembley as De Gea was crucially still retreating backwards into his goal, and while De Gea's positioning at The Hawthorns was adequate when Shane Long got his shot off, his body shape and 'set' certainly was not. [LNB]Perhaps such an expensive stopper at one of Europe's top three sides should not be making these basic mistakes, but United goalkeeping coach Eric Steele will spend this week on the training ground ironing out the kinks in De Gea's technique. Working closely with Steele and De Gea will be Anders Lindegaard, the 27-year-old Denmark international who believes De Gea's spot should be his and has shown in his few United appearances that there is no reason to believe he is wrong.[LNB]Ferguson clearly knew the risks in putting his faith in such an inexperienced stopper and must accept that mistakes will occur as De Gea acclimatises to the Premier League. With every point likely to matter in the title race, though, the goalkeeper cannot continue to rely on those in front of him to dig him out. [LNB]Luckily for De Gea, Ferguson's stubborn nature means he won't be taken out of the firing line unless clangers continue to be dropped on a regular basis over the coming month - a period during which United face Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea without their strongest and most senior back four.[LNB]Ferguson, in buying such a young goalkeeper, clearly took a long-term approach to replacing van der Sar. But as Ben Foster, Tomas Kuszczak, Tim Howard and Roy Carroll will all testify, the United goal is no place to do your growing up. De Gea needs to man up, and quickly.

Source: Team_Talk