Throughout David de Gea’s career at Manchester United, supporters have seen him turn into one of the world’s best shot-stoppers but there always has been one question mark over the Spaniard’s game - his distribution.
De Gea joined the Reds from Atletico Madrid in 2011 and has gone on to become the club’s eleventh all-time appearance maker. He had a shaky start during his first couple of years in Manchester, often being rotated with different goalkeepers, but since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, he has been the one constant through a multitude of changes and has been a rock behind United’s various shaky defences.
The 31-year-old has won United’s player of the season award four times with three consecutive accolades between 2014-2016. The goalkeeper has been fundamental for United’s relevancy and without him, they would have arguably struggled to even earn a Europa League position.
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However, if United want to become a modern-day footballing giant once again some fans would argue they must be ruthless and De Gea's distribution might be a reason to look for strong competition for him.
Every major European club has a goalkeeper who is comfortable with the ball at their feet and who can pick out a long field or a lobbed pass to a full-back. Alisson and Ederson are the best examples of this in the Premier League.
Although De Gea insists he is comfortable at playing out from the back, United at times looked hopeless during their 2-1 loss to Brighton at Old Trafford and a factor in the defeat was De Gea’s dawdling when in possession of the ball. During a goal kick, Brighton pressed United’s defenders often forcing De Gea into launching the ball over the top.
Throughout the Brighton match, it looked as if De Gea didn’t have enough trust in his ability when making a pass under pressure. One key example of the shot-stopper lingering on the ball was in the first half, the Spain international received the ball in his box and Luke Shaw was available for a lobbed pass, instead, De Gea ended up taking too much time in deciding which pass to make and he eventually kicked the ball out of play for a Brighton throw in.
De Gea is a legend of United and has had a largely successful 11-year spell at the club including a Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, and a Europa League. But all good things have to come to an end and perhaps sooner than later United will have to start the difficult journey to finding his successor - a truly modern-day keeper who is capable of building attacks from the back.
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