De Gea and Manchester United

David De Gea’s goalkeeping career stretches back 12 years and is now running successfully. Having joined Atlético Madrid at the age of 10 he represented his national team at U-15, U-17, U-19 and U-21 levels. This speaks huge volumes of De Gea’s talents and capabilities thus making him one of the most highly-rated young goalkeepers today.

Joining United would prove to be the most rewarding part for the careers of both him and the club. The confidence of the manager had in him was reflected right away when he made his competitive debut for Manchester United against Manchester City in the Community Shield on 7 August. Despite being caught out in the first half by a header from Joleon Lescott and a long-range Edin Džeko strike that put City into a 2–0 lead, United rallied in the second half and won 3–2.

His first season with United, truly, was shaky. He appeared like a shy boy who was taking the stage for the first time. He was in goal when United sent Arsenal fans, literally, crying by handing them a bitter 8-2 defeat. And yet again, when Manchester United suffered their worst home defeat since 1955 with a 6–1 loss against cross-town rivals Manchester City. Eventually, De Gea finished the season with the best saves-to-shots ratio in the Premier League (77.9%).

The year before, Edwin Van Der Sar took the field for the final time. However, people had already started talking about De Gea being his replacement. Expectations were huge and the pressure, enormous. Taking a look at the standards and performances set by him would make De Gea feel as if he was about to scale a mountain. The manager would hope nothing less than him setting the bar further high. The media interested in him would have slightly made him anxious, which in turn hampered his performances during the first season.

Now the picture is, absolutely, different. It takes every individual a matter of time to settle in. He took his. At the moment, he has got used to the environment and is gelling very well with his teammates. The feel good factor matters very much to a player, even if it’s to perform well. Now we see a confident and matured De Gea; the one different from the first season. His feats in goal are really commendable. Be it avoiding the striker from scoring in one-on-one situation or his shot-stopping skills, nobody can deny the fact that he is one of the most athletic goalkeepers of this generation.

There comes a time for everyone, when you leave behind everything that’s bothering you and turn your attention to dealing with the task at hand. This pushes you to the farthest limits. It compels you to do the unorthodox and do something you never done before. And you discover the new you. The same is happening with our young stalwart. His recent performance against local rivals Man City caught the eye of Football Gurus, who filled his bag full of praises. His save with his shoulder from a close range shot of Silva was really commendable.

Although the competition with Lindegaard, to be the numero uno, seems to bother him a bit. Nonetheless his performances have not been affected even by the slightest. I think the ‘Gaffer’ is doing a really good job managing both the prospects and keeping them both pleased.

Given the talent he possesses and with time at his disposal, it is very much possible that in near future we may see one of the best goalkeepers of all time.