Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stood by his number-one goalkeeper David de Gea during his pre-match press conference ahead of the Red Devils’ Premier League clash with Sheffield United on Wednesday.
De Gea came under fire following his performance in Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur last Friday. The Spaniard was the focus of criticism from Sky Sports pundit and former Manchester United captain Roy Keane, following his failure to stop Steven Bergwijn from opening the scoring for Tottenham in Friday’s game.
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As per Sky Sports, the former Republic of Ireland international declared that he is ‘sick to death’ of De Gea. Keane went on to say that he wouldn’t even allow the Spanish international or Manchester United captain Harry Maguire to use the team bus to return to Manchester following the away game in north London.
In Solskjaer’s recent pre-match press conference, BBC reporter Simon Stone asked the Norwegian coach how he views De Gea’s form at present, claiming that the goalkeeper seems to make “a few more mistakes now than he used to.”
The Manchester United boss responded to this question, saying: “David is the best goalkeeper in the world. He’s conceded two goals in the last seven games he’s played for us. There’s a few games against [Manchester] City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Everton – two goals in seven games, we’ve gone on a run not conceding goals.”
Solskjaer then went on to say: “He makes great saves, he wins games for us, and I still think he’s the best goalkeeper in the world. For me, David’s working really hard, he’s not making the errors that you see time and time again. For me, David’s been consistently working hard in training, I’m very pleased with his work.”
Is David de Gea the best goalkeeper in the world?YES
NO
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TIF Thoughts…
As explained by Solskjaer, De Gea has only conceded two goals in his last seven games for United in all competitions. With that in mind, it may be harsh to question the ability of the 29-year-old after conceding one goal against Tottenham.
The Spaniard was included as one of only five goalkeepers to be nominated for FIFPro’s World XI last year and that may be an indication that up until very recently, he has been widely regarded as one of the world’s best goalkeepers. That, combined with his impressive record of clean sheets prior to the postponement of the Premier League back in March, may make it appear as though some, such as Keane, are overreacting to his performance against Spurs.