David De(cade) Gea - How will he be remembered?

Irrational.

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Is our current longest serving squad player, and will have been with us for a decade at the end of this month.

How does he rank amongst the pantheon of United great keepers?

For me he falls just short of being considered a great keeper. He was very good in his prime though, shortly after Sir Alex left, and single handedly saved us many dropped points. I would consider him above Fabian Barthez but leagues below VDS and Schmeichel.
 

Baneofthegame

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Unfortunately we wasted his prime with horrendous squads, which is a shame, certainly appreciate the first 7/8 years.

As an overall keeper I’d say a level below VDS/Schmeichel, in terms of shot stopping, right up there.
 

Maciej

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De Gea and Jones are the only players in our current squad who played in Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson.
 

Nero

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De Gea and Jones are the only players in our current squad who played in Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson.
Phil Jones will be the last man standing.
 

OleBoiii

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He should be considered a legend.

The only reason he wont be is because it sounds weird to have 3 goalkeeper legends in less than 20 years His lack of big trophies will also work against him. Both of these are weak arguments, imo.
 

lysglimt

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The third best goalkeeper in United-history (at least in moden times) - I have not seen enough of the ones pre-war to judge them
 

sillwuka

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Still surprises me that he's been here for this long. He won't go down as all time great but easily the tier below because of our dependence on him + longevity.

Alot of fans will remember his cat like reflexes.

Schmeichel - 8 years
Van De Sar - 6 years
 

sullydnl

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If he had left a few years ago he would have been considered up there with Schmeichel and VDS. In fact I would have had him ahead of the excellent but still flawed VDS. But it's hard not to take the last few years into account too.

Still obviously third to them though. Easily the most gifted goalkeeper I've seen at the club, the best shot-stopper and also the goalkeeper we actually depended on the most. 5 times PL team of the year, 4 times Matt Busby award winner, 3 times our player's player of the year. Tells its own story really. Even with a dip at the end, still comfortably our best player of the 2010s. I dread to think how some of those already nightmarish seasons would have ended without him.

Certainly a United legend, albeit one who stayed too long. If he were to find form again at another club then it might re-bolster his general reputation because he really was a remarkable goalkeeper at his best.
 

Adisa

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He's a legend. No one will convince me otherwise.
For long spells he was the difference between us and what Arsenal are currently going through.
 

Delano

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He should be regarded as a club legend, who was unfortunate to be our best player in our worst seasons.

5x PFA Team of the year
4x United Player of the Year
1x Fifpro World 11

It's a shame his level has dropped, but he was our most consistent world class performer for a long long time. The player he was, will be extremely difficult to replace.
 

anant

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Will go down as a proper United legend. Arguably the best shot-stopper the club's ever had I believe (not sure how good keepers before Schmeichel were). Wish he won a few more leagues and atleast 1 CL with us, which his performances thoroughly deserved for us
 

The Urban Goose

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Great shot stopper but overrated as a goalkeeper. He's the goalkeeper equivalent of Filippo Inzaghi - great at one aspect of the role but average at everything else.
 

OleBoiii

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5x PFA Team of the year
4x United Player of the Year
This speaks volumes. It's not like he was just "the best of a bad bunch" either. He was genuinely excellent/world class in all of these seasons.

It pains me to see how much some of our fans have soured. It's actually worse than it was with Rooney.
 

Sparky_Hughes

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yeah meh today but vast majority of fans were wanking over him for a good few years from 2014-2017 ish
Maybe Ive been spoiled growing up watching big Pete and VDS but even when he was undeniably the best shot stopper around, his passiveness drove me loopy. Never been a fan of his style.
 

harms

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For me he falls just short of being considered a great keeper. He was very good in his prime though, shortly after Sir Alex left, and single handedly saved us many dropped points. I would consider him above Fabian Barthez but leagues below VDS and Schmeichel.
I couldn’t have said it worse myself.
 

OleBoiii

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I'm 100% sure that he would have been widely considered a legend in the same league as Schmeichel and VDS if he had won a CL and another 2 or 3 PL.

People are too emotional in their assessments of players. They associate DDG with a dark period in United history and thus they can't consider him an all-time great, regardless of performances.
 

Oranges038

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Best shot-stopper the club ever had.

Schemichel was streets ahead in every aspect of being a goalkeeper.

Ability wise, he's behind both Schmeichel and VDS. Probably behind Stepney and Gregg too in terms of status as a club great.

For me he'd be about 5th on the list.
 

A-man

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I’ve always had the feeling that he’s amazing individually but doesn’t really help the defence. One example 2017/18 he had the most clean sheets and Ederson was second. DDG made a huge amount of saves, but Ederson was much more proactive.
 

Rado_N

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He’ll be underrated when people look back on his career because people are mostly incapable of looking beyond silverware.

His peak was higher than the peak of our other great keepers imo. There are areas of his game that were weaker but overall at his best he was the best we’ve had and kept the ball out of the net in situations he had absolutely no right to do so.

Unfortunately he’s dropped off significantly and because his peak came at a time when the rest of the squad was largely pants and mismanaged he’s now persona non grata.
 

Tom Cato

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His facial hair always made me irrationally angry. Like, what the hell is that on your face, David?

But he's a club legend in his own right. We just need a decade to let memories and legend form a bit before it really sinks in.
 

Sparky_Hughes

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He’ll be underrated when people look back on his career because people are mostly incapable of looking beyond silverware.

His peak was higher than the peak of our other great keepers imo. There are areas of his game that were weaker but overall at his best he was the best we’ve had and kept the ball out of the net in situations he had absolutely no right to do so.

Unfortunately he’s dropped off significantly and because his peak came at a time when the rest of the squad was largely pants and mismanaged he’s now persona non grata.
Not for me, Schmeichel was the greatest Ive ever seen. Not only a superb keeper but one that terrified opposing forwards, You could have the greatest forwards in the world up against him and Id still bet on Pete to keep them out 1 on 1 more often than not
 

GueRed

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Maybe Ive been spoiled growing up watching big Pete and VDS but even when he was undeniably the best shot stopper around, his passiveness drove me loopy. Never been a fan of his style.
We have.

Schmeichel is not only the best keeper we have ever had but is also (for me at least) the best keeper in the last 40 years.

That doesnt take away the fact De Gea was for a good few years World Class for us...On his line he was amazing. He's been a great servant. Will go down a Legend.
 

Zlatattack

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He's not gone anywhere yet.

I think he'll be remembered as an excellent goalkeeper who for a few seasons was arguably the best in the world and then eventually dropped to be just above average.
 

Trequarista10

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There were a 2-3 seasons where he was insanely good. Every match he seemed to make numerous saves that defied belief. Usually a striker blasting it from about 6 yards out and he'd somehow get a foot or hand to it.

Never quite managed to perfect over aspects of goalkeeping, like collecting crosses, organising, or the distribution that most modern keepers have.

Overall, rightly in the same bracket as Schmeichel and VDS. I'd say probably joint 2nd with VDS - which is an underachievement as a few years ago it seemed inevitable he would go on to eclipse even Schmeichel.
 

Sparky_Hughes

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We have.

Schmeichel is not only the best keeper we have ever had but is also (for me at least) the best keeper in the last 40 years.

That doesnt take away the fact De Gea was for a good few years World Class for us...On his line he was amazing. He's been a great servant. Will go down a Legend.
Whilst being just OK everywhere else, my personal preference is for a keeper who bosses his area, intimidates opponents and is just generally a bit tonto, so Ive never really been on board the dave train.
 

Rado_N

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Not for me, Schmeichel was the greatest Ive ever seen. Not only a superb keeper but one that terrified opposing forwards, You could have the greatest forwards in the world up against him and Id still bet on Pete to keep them out 1 on 1 more often than not
I get that, and I grew up watching Schmeichel and as a young keeper myself absolutely idolised him, it’s close but but I stand by my opinion.
 

Lay

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He’ll be underrated when people look back on his career because people are mostly incapable of looking beyond silverware.

His peak was higher than the peak of our other great keepers imo. There are areas of his game that were weaker but overall at his best he was the best we’ve had and kept the ball out of the net in situations he had absolutely no right to do so.

Unfortunately he’s dropped off significantly and because his peak came at a time when the rest of the squad was largely pants and mismanaged he’s now persona non grata.
I don’t think his peak was as high as Schmeichel’s was. Schmeichel was a brick wall that dominated his box and added so much to our counter attacking play. DDG whilst possibly rivalling shot stopping peak, never had the other attributes to his game.

For example, a one on one situation, I’m not picking DDG even at his peak because his tendency to drop his body and use his feet was easier to get past than Schmeichel who would stand there looking like Stretch Armstrong
 

BarstoolProphet

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Schmeichel was arguably the greatest keeper ever, even though he became a bit erratic at the end. DdG was on his way to reach his level until his form took a massive nosedive after that tournament with Spain. Let's not pretend he was not out of this world for a few years. Like someone previously mentioned, the difference between us and what Arsenal have become. Everton at Home, Spurs, RM and Arsenal away. There's so many sensational performances.