There has been much discussion about David de Gea’s abilities to transition into a modern style of goalkeeping.
The Spaniard has undoubtedly been an excellent goalkeeper with superior reflexes over the last decade for Manchester United, albeit with a flicker here and there.
That said, the Premier League is now littered with goalkeepers who have developed their game alongside their team’s style – Ederson with Manchester City and Alisson Becker with Liverpool being prime examples.
Brighton Hove & Albion’s Robert Sanchez even progressed in his ball-playing skills last season in keeping with Potter’s philosophy. Brentford’s David Raya has also impressed.
De Gea’s passing success rate last season was 68.9% in the Premier League (38 appearances). Sanchez, De Gea’s compatriot, by comparison, totaled a 67.4% passing success rate (37 appearances).
This may be surprising given the previous paragraph’s praise for the Brighton goalkeeper; however, the key difference is that Sánchez averaged 16 more passes per ninety minutes than De Gea.
Potter entrusted him to consistently play from behind and gave him the ability to make mistakes as the season unfolded.
Ederson, on the other hand, had a remarkable passing success rate of 88.8%. Clearly, there is a staggering gulf in quality today between the goalkeepers of the two Manchester clubs.
Erik ten Hag stood out for his desire to play from behind and built a successful team based on possession on two occasions at Ajax.
He liked Ajax to play at the back to attract teams and draw opposing players out of position in order to quickly get through midfield.
Many now, as a consequence of the Dutchman’s philosophy and preferred style of play, question De Gea’s suitability for this new iteration of Manchester United.
This season, in six Premier League games, De Gea currently has a 55.5% passing success rate. Is he crumbling under the pressure?
It is also clear that he does not trust his own ability: he has increased his average number of long balls by almost two per game compared to last season (3.1 in 2021/22; 4.8 in 2022/23).
The Brentford match was a clear indictment of his success on the ball game and short passing – he has clearly given up trying to play from behind consistently as a result of the 0-4.
United’s two most recent games have been in the Europa League against Sheriff Tiraspol and Real Sociedad. De Gea has posted an impressive passing success rate of 87.5% in these two European games.
Indeed, the opposition may be of lower quality (although Sociedad are not to be despised) than the top clubs in the Premier League, but De Gea’s improvement in these two games is unquestionable.
Will he be able to constantly improve his ball-playing ability and improve his passing throughout this season? For De Gea, it is crucial that he does so if he is to remain a key player at Manchester United under Ten Hag.
