Sky Sports presenter Joe Thomlinson has been praising Manchester United’s David de Gea on the Football Daily YouTube channel – but is unconvinced over his long-term future at the club.
It’s been a very disappointing season for Manchester United, who had an exciting summer in landing the likes of Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo, however, they are only sixth in the Premier League and three points off the top four as well as being set to finish the campaign with no silverware.
Will De Gea be replaced next season?
Yes!
No!
Their latest scare came on the weekend against bottom club Norwich City with the Red Devils surrendering a two-goal lead, and they may well have found themselves in a much worse scenario during the game if De Gea wasn’t on form, as the Spaniard made some crucial saves, including a particularly great one-on-one stop to deny Teemu Pukki.
In the last eight years, De Gea has won Man United’s Player of the Season award four times and Thomlinson believes that could become five at the end of this campaign.
Discussing who has been their best player this season, he said: “I think for me, as a Man United fan, it’s probably been De Gea, but that is classic Man United – when De Gea wins Player of the Year, you know we’ve had an absolutely horrendous season.
“I think he’s going to struggle big time under Ten Hag, so I’m not sure what happens to De Gea, but he has probably been our best player this season.”
TIF Thoughts on De Gea…
De Gea has recently lost his spot in the Spain squad as the country’s No 1, which may be a testament to why Thomlinson doesn’t see De Gea thriving under Ten Hag, who likes his sides to be possession-based, and therefore have a ‘keeper who is good with his feet.
This isn’t something that De Gea is natural at, with the Spaniard only racking 14th in the Premier League when it comes to passes completed over 40 yards with 37.1%, which compared to Ederson and Allison, who boast 55.7% and 50.8% respectively, it’s obvious this is a major weakness in De Gea’s game.
In other news: ‘We know that’ – Journalist now hints at first huge potential exit under Ten Hag