David De Gea suffered a baptism of fire last weekend as he took his Premier League bow. At fault for allowing a tame effort to slip underneath him for West Brom’s goal, he was also on the receiving end a buffeting from an Albion side eager to test his fortitude.
Neverthless, United and De Gea hung on for a valuable opening day win and no lasting damage was done. However, seeds of doubt have been sown as to the 20 year old’s ability to cope in the white heat of a bid to retain the title.
The retirement of Van de Sar in the summer left some big gloves to fill and Sir Alex has taken a calculated gamble in opting to put his faith in one so young and relatively inexperienced.
Current injuries to Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are also conspiring against De Gea developing an understanding with the first choice centre back pairing. It would be crass to dismiss De Gea’s credentials on the basis of one afternoon at the Hawthorns but he will be under increased scrutiny from this point on. The new keeper can’t afford to gain a reputation for being error prone. If the mistakes continue, United’s nearest rivals may consider him a weak link to be exploited.
But what of the state of goalkeeping among those title rivals?
On the other side of Manchester, City are in possession of England’s No. 1. Joe Hart’s imperious form over the last two years has led to him signing a new contract and Shay Given seeking a new challenge at Villa. Despite the occasional aberration, Hart is staking a claim as the most complete keeper in the league. He commands his penalty area with authority while his agility and speed in closing down advancing strikers make him very difficult to beat.
In Petr Cech, Chelsea have one of the most dominant goalkeepers of the last decade. He currently holds the Premier League record for fewest appearances required to reach 100 clean sheets, having done so in 180 league appearances. However, his powers appear to have diminished slightly during the last year or two. Most worryingly for Blues fans is increasing susceptibility to injury. He is expected to miss the next four league games having damaged his knee in training so Chelsea will be hoping that Ross Turnbull or Hilario will be able to step up to the mark.
Arsenal’s goalkeeping conundrum has plagued them since Jens Lehmann departed in 2008 and their lack of silverware since 2005 has been, in part, a consequence of it. The most recent man to take on the challenge is Wojciech Szczesny and the Polish international seems capable of justifying Arsene Wenger’s trust in him. Despite this, many Gunners fans will continue to question why a more experienced keeper has not been brought in.
Pepe Reina has already offered his support to the beleaguered De Gea. Reina himself could arguably be labeled the best custodian in the Premier League at present. He is a consistently solid performer and is a highly influential figure in a resurgent Liverpool squad. Kenny Dalglish has also added the Brazilian keeper Alexander Doni from Roma as a highly accomplished back-up to Reina during the summer.
With so many trophies up for grabs, De Gea and his contemporaries will be determined not to let them slip through their fingers.
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