Manchester United keeper David De Gea has been the backbone of the side for a number of seasons but over the past year and a half years, the Spaniard has been on a steady decline.
A player who once single-handedly helped Man United pick up wins has now been making silly and novice errors which in turn have been costing the OT outfit valuable points.
And after his recent error against Spurs, once again there have been voices which have been urging the Man United manager to part ways with him this summer.
A number of former Man United players have also joined this bandwagon but according to Peter Schmeichel, David De Gea is just taking time to adjust to a new type of Manchester United.
“He’s been tremendous for us, there’s no doubt about that,” the former United keeper told the club’s website. “He stuck it through in the most difficult period of modern-day Manchester United history.
“It’s been up and down and, basically, he has been our best player. There’s no doubt about that. Four out of five years being our Player of the Year. That just tells its own story about his performances for the club.
“It’s easy to just blame the goalkeeper, but I’m not going to.
“I’m trying to make a case that every goalkeeper needs to be protected and there’s no doubt that the way the team is playing now, as opposed to when a team plays more defensively, the type of chances that you concede fit into David’s best skills.
“Those kind of saves we’ve seen came from chances created by being defensive. At the moment, we are attacking a lot and that leaves strikers man-to-man. It becomes like a counter-attack. These are the kind of goals we are conceding now.
“I think he needs a bit of time to adjust to the way we are playing.
“If you’re a goalkeeper that has been busy for three or four years, and now you’re not busy, you have to change your game a little bit. You need to find new ways of keeping your concentration, of staying with the game. Everyone has to adjust and I think that’s the same for him as well.
“David is our No.1 – he’s still a young lad, by the way. He could play on for another 10 years. Let’s back him. We should support what we have because we know what we have is really good.”
Man United already have a worthy replacement to David De Gea in the form of Dean Henderson so the club do not need to go out and splash money on a new keeper anytime soon.
But clearly Henderson will not be a part of the Man United first-team squad next season since he looks all set to return to Sheffield United for yet another loan spell.
