Manchester United cruised to a 4-1 victory in the first leg of their Europa League tie with Real Betis, but the performance of goalkeeper David de Gea may attract concern within the United fanbase.
There can be no complaints regarding the goal De Gea did concede as Ayoze Perez left the goalkeeper with no chance with his outside-of-the-foot strike, but it’s De Gea’s lack of ability on the ball that is raising questions over his future in the squad.
There is no doubting De Gea’s ability as a shot-stopper as time and time again over the past 12 years the Spaniard has come up with jaw-dropping saves for United. Whilst making saves is a goalkeeper's primary job, the modern era requires goalkeepers to be as competent with their feet as outfield players.
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Erik ten Hag is very much a modern coach and likes United to build up attacks from the back, a style of play that demands a lot from De Gea. He has never been excellent with his feet, but the apparent lack of improvement from De Gea may cause Ten Hag to look elsewhere for a long-term option.
De Gea’s distribution against Betis was far from satisfactory, with only one completed long ball out of six attempts, with some particularly peculiar attempts that created big chances for Betis. De Gea calmly passed the ball straight to Betis’ Juanmi who played in goalscorer Perez before his deflected effort hit the post when the scores were level.
Moments like this can completely flip a game on its head and had United gone in at the break a goal down the game could have played out a lot differently.
Ten Hag addressed the issue after the match. He said: “From today I can’t ignore it, but I think we have seen many games he did really well. I don’t know what the reason today was - there was a lot of wind, a different ball, probably he had some problems with that, but I know we can deal with it and he will do better Sunday [against Southampton].
“We work on [his kicking] but David is working on that. But I think we have seen in this season that he is improving and he will keep improving, I’m sure.”
United’s rivals at the top of the Premier League have all invested in goalkeepers who are capable of playing this new style, with Alisson, Ederson and Aaron Ramsdale all making positive impacts in their respective teams. United have been a step behind their competitors in recent years but if De Gea doesn’t start to improve in the areas Ten Hag demands he could find himself as collateral damage in United’s revival.
De Gea’s current passing accuracy in the Premier League is 69% which may be what you expect from a goalkeeper, but when you compare to the likes of Ederson and Alisson who both have above 80% it leaves a lot to be desired. In earlier seasons this may not have been as much of an issue but the same cannot be said of a modern-day United team managed by Ten Hag. De Gea still clearly has a lot to prove if he is to survive in this environment.
De Gea has been an excellent servant and it has been difficult to see him struggle in recent years at United. He's still a world-class goalkeeper and his reflexes and agility make him one of the league’s best.
Unfortunately he seems to lack the ball-playing ability a team like United require and that could ultimately cost the 32-year-old his place in the side.
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