Manchester United have several issues that need addressing in the transfer window and this means that some areas may have to be deferred until next season. The midfield is the most pressing area of the squad, with two players likely needed to solve the club's issues, while a backup striker option for Cristiano Ronaldo will also be on the agenda.
However, there has been much debate in the fanbase over the future of David de Gea. Though the Spanish shot-stopper was named Player's Player of the season for United, the fans are split about whether he had a 'great' season and also where he will stand under new manager Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag demands that his keepers are able to play out from the back and have a command of their area, even resorting to picking 38-year-old Remko Pasveer between the sticks this season at Ajax when Andre Onana was deemed unable to perform the task. And this has typically been something De Gea struggles with.
READ MORE: Spain boss Luis Enrique hints at reason behind David de Gea snub despite Manchester United form
FBref states that De Gea ranks among the worst in Europe's top five leagues (among goalkeepers) for the percentage of crosses claimed (3.2 per cent), average defensive actions outside his penalty area per 90 minutes played (0.24) and touches of the ball per 90 (26.53). And this is why he has been dropped by Spain coach Luis Enrique.
Enrique recently told the Spanish media: "A goalkeeper should start the play and generate the first superiority, they must dominate the aerial play. I need a goalkeeper that transmits peace and calmness to me — and that doesn’t mean they won’t make mistakes, errors are part of football. But what they generate I like a lot.”
Both Robert Sanchez and David Raya — who were selected over United's number one — rate highly in the areas that De Gea fails to excel. They are also both fine shot-stoppers, with the Brighton keeper actually having a bigger difference in his xG against compared to his goals conceded than De Gea.
According to Understat, United should have conceded 56.85 goals and actually conceded 57, so when rounded up the team conceded as many goals as they should have done. Brighton, on the other hand. conceded 44 with Sanchez between the sticks when they had an xGA of 47.21 — a clear overperformance.
The issue with judging De Gea's shot-stopping ability is that many fans laud him for making the saves he shouldn't make, rather than questioning the ones that he doesn't. The Spaniard's tendency to stay fixed to his line has caused him many problems throughout the season, both in one-versus-one scenarios and also by allowing balls to be loose in the box, leading to unnecessary shots.
And this is not even considering the issue that befalls the team when they try to play a high line and teams can run in behind because they know De Gea will stay in his box — therefore allowing them extra time on the ball. He might save the resulting chance, but one should ask whether there ever needed to be a shot in the first place.
However, Ten Hag does not have the liberty that Enrique does to select from a pool of talented goalkeepers. It's understood that Dean Henderson wants to leave the club this summer and Tom Heaton is purely a back-up. De Gea, meanwhile, is an influential member of the dressing room and also on very high wages, so would be hard to sell and replace.
And, as already started, the squad needs significant investment in other areas, so even if Henderson was to be sold there are no guarantees that the money would be invested to bring in another talented keeper to challenge De Gea for his starting role. United have tangled themselves in a problematic web and it'll take time to properly solve the goalkeeping situation.
De Gea's contract expires in 2023 — with the option to extend it by a further 12 months — and it would set the club back if they were to offer him a new deal. He is one of the club's highest earners, but he doesn't raise the ceiling of the squad — he protects the team from completely dropping through the floor, and that's what he did in the 2021/22 season.
To use volleyball terminology, he is the libero stopping the ball from hitting the ground and a point being scored, but there is only so long you can rely on last-ditch saves before things start to get through. Sometimes you've got to run up to the net, make yourself big and make sure that the ball doesn't even have a chance of hitting the floor.
There is no doubt that De Gea has been a fantastic servant to the club and his form during the Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho's reigns put him among the best in the world during that period. But the footballing world has moved on.
And even though De Gea can't take all the blame for the club's disastrous season, when you've just conceded a record number of goals in the Premier League and struggled to your lowest points tally, the time for sentimentality might be over soon.
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