Erik ten Hag has been full of praise for David de Gea lately, but may be regretting his decision to ignore Roy Keane's advice following the Manchester United keeper's glaring error against Everton.
De Gea has retained his place as the Red Devils' first-choice goalkeeper under Ten Hag, who took over at Old Trafford in June. That's despite the 32-year-old having developed a reputation for making costly errors at key moments in recent campaigns - something which has played its part in his absence from Spain squads over the past 18 months.
And although it's fair to say he has impressed this term he made one of those scarcely-believable mistakes in the third round of the FA Cup on Friday night. United were leading thanks to Antony's early goal when the Toffees were able to recycle the ball from a broken down corner.
Idrissa Gueye picked up the ball on the edge of the box before slipping in Neal Maupay down the right. The striker attempted to cut the ball across the face of goal but De Gea bizarrely allowed it to squirm through his legs while, strangely, remaining upright and hanging onto his left-hand goal post.
Conor Coady then reacted quickest to poke the ball in and equalise for the struggling visitors. The costly error from De Gea means that Ten Hag's decision to ignore Keane has come back to haunt him.
Back in the summer of 2020 during the Premier League's Project Restart, the Irishman had launched a furious rant about De Gea after he made a similar mistake during a clash with Tottenham.
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"I'm shocked at that goal. I've watched a lot of football over the years and I'm shocked at that goal. I'm watching that and I'm fuming. And I am sick to death of this goalkeeper. I would be flying in at half time," he told Sky Sports.
"I would be swinging punches at that guy. This is a standard save for a standard, international goalkeeper. I am flabbergasted. There's got to be some stuff going on at half-time.
"If I was Ole, I'd make some changes. Get some lads off the pitch. There are lads out there going through the motions a bit. Maguire and De Gea, I wouldn't even let them on the bus after the game. Get a taxi back to Manchester."
Ten Hag has the chance to correct his mistake at the end of the season, with De Gea out of contract. The Spaniard is yet to sign a new deal, with Ten Hag revealing in October that United were still weighing up his options about whether to make an offer.
"We didn't make a decision on him, but what I can say is that I am really happy with David De Gea as a keeper. His first two performances of the season were not his best performances," he said.
"But after you see he brings us a lot for the defence department, gives stability and as a person I like him. I can really co-operate with him really well, but first we go to the winter and then we will talk about how to deal with the situations.
"In this moment we only think about performing. We have a lot of games to go, so I don't want to get that interfered by talks. We have to focus on football and performances, not on negotiating. That's what we have to do now."
However, De Gea has insisted that he is keen to remain at the club, and could even take a substantial pay cut to stay put.
