David De Gea: The Rock behind United's crumbling defense this season

If Manchester United end up finishing in the top four of the Premier League, their fans will have one player to thank above all others. And no, we are not talking about Cristiano Ronaldo or Bruno Fernandes. We are talking about their Spanish shot stopper David De Gea.

The Red Devils haven't lifted a trophy since their Europa League triumph in 2017 under Jose Mourinho. Going into the business end of the season, that trend looks set to continue given the current performances at the club.

Early season expectations fall flat

Manchester United suffered an early exit from the EFL Cup

Manchester United were always unlikely to win the Premier League title despite the positive mood surrounding the club at the start of the season. However, their chances in the domestic cup competitions had fans hoping to witness an end to their trophy drought.

Clearly, they hadn't read the script. United were bounced out of the Carabao Cup at the first hurdle, losing 0-1 to West Ham United at home.

If that wasn't embarrassing enough, their loss on penalties to Championship side Middlesbrough once again at home surely was. A common denominator in these matches? De Gea didn't feature in either.

De Gea the Saviour

The 31-year-old goalkeeper has (un)arguably been the Red Devils' player of the season so far. In their latest match against Brighton, he produced a sensational diving save at 0-0 to keep out Jakub Moder's header. Without it, Rangnick and co. probably wouldn't have won the game and their hopes of a top-four finish would have suffered a major blow.

It wasn't a one-off world class save either. He's been doing it pretty much for the entire season. In the early-season game against Southampton, he dived low to his left to suberbly deny Stuart Armstrong from close range. He followed that up in the very next match with a brilliant double save from point blank range against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

West Ham would have walked away with a point had De Gea not saved a penalty from Mark Noble in stoppage time. It was virtually the last kick of the game.

Arguably, his best performance came in the 2-1 win over Villarreal in the Champions League. Ronaldo grabbed all the headlines by virtue of his injury time winner. But it was the man between the sticks who kept them in the match in the first place. De Gea made save after save in the first half to repel the relentless counter-attacks from Unai Emery's men.

The most impressive feat is that he has maintained this level of consistency throughout the season. No dip in form. No errors leading to goals. Just head-scratching, jaw-dropping stops.

Rise, Fall and Rise again

David De Gea with the Premier League Player of the Month award for January 2022

It hasn't always been plain sailing for the former Atletico Madrid man at his current club.

He established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the world after an initial but brief, rocky phase. During this time, he became the first player to be voted Sir Matt Busby player of the year four times (2014,2015,2016,2018). The player with the second-most? His current teammate Cristiano Ronaldo has three awards.

After Mourinho's sacking in December 2018, things quickly took a turn for the worse for the Spaniard. Mistakes crept in, save percentage nose-dived.

High-profile errors in the 3-0 thumping by Barcelona in the 2018-19 Champions League quarterfinals did not help his cause. He must have hoped for his bad run of form to end along with the disappointing season. And to a point, it did.

The 2019-20 season was solid but unspectacular for both him and his club in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first full season in charge. Apart from a howler against Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinals, De Gea kept his own. But the standard of goalkeeping clearly wasn't up to par to meet the threshold of a club as elite as Manchester United.

The next season was when De Gea truly hit rock bottom. Not only did those costly mistakes reappear out of nowhere, it looked as if he lacked confidence for the first time in his career. It might have something to do with his his highly rated under-study Dean Henderson signing a new six-year contract with the club.

Pundits and fans alike were calling for his head. Pressure was mounting. Dean Henderson performed well on the occasions he was given a chance. De Gea was no longer the undisputed Manchester United number 1.

Solskjaer still kept faith in him though for their biggest game of the season. It backfired horrendously.

De Gea failed to save a single penalty as Villarreal won the Europa League final after pipping United 11-10 in the shootout. What really rubbed the salt into his wounds was the fact that it was none other than De Gea who missed the decisive spot-kick.

Not only that, he also ended up losing his spot of Spain's No.1 to Unai Simon. He could only watch from the bench as La Roja reached all the way to the semis at Euro 2020.

David De Gea had to bounce back. And boy did he do it in some style.

What De Gea's performances tell about Manchester United

The race for the Top four will go down to the wire

Fast forward to this season, De Gea has made the most saves(92) in England’s top flight this campaign. In January, he became the first goalkeeper in over half a decade to win the Premier League Player of the Month award.

While these statistics, performances and accolades are another feather in David's cap, they tell you something about Manchester United.

A team with lofty ambitions shouldn't have their No.1 to thank, virtually every time they earn points or avoid a humbling.

It's one thing to produce these miraculous saves on the odd occasion or when the team are comfortable and plain sailing their way to victory. It's a completely different thing to do when he makes those saves just to keep his side in the game. Time after Time.

This player plays for a team hoping to secure Champions League football for next season and not some relegation contenders. It is a damning reality of where things currently stand for the 13-time Premier League Champions.

One thing is for sure. If Manchester United do end up making the most out of whatever's left of the season, the name of one player will shine the brightest - David De Gea Quintana.