No. He wasn't
1
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 46
- Clean sheets
- 10
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 0
- Status
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Statistically he's made the most saves and prevented the most goals in the league this season. It's not just about volume either, as a team we're joint 2nd worst in terms of PSxG/SOT, so he's facing tough chances too.
So he's unquestionably in superb shot-stopping form. So much so that he has quite easily won back the #1 jersey, is the clear favourite to be our POTY, is one of the top performing goalkeepers in the league this season and you can absolutely make a claim for him being the best shot-stopper in Europe again. All of which seemed unlikely at the end of last season, so full credit to him for that.
However his current form isn't just insanely good. It's unsustainably good, being significantly better than what he was doing even in previous seasons where he was regarded as arguably the best shot-stopper in Europe. And once that form dips (as it understandably will) I don't think he'll be able to compensate for his weaknesses to enough of a degree to not be a notable issue, because those weaknesses have still been fully present throughout this resurgence in form. Of course we're a team full of issues that potentially need addressing, so even then he may well continue as our #1..
So he's unquestionably in superb shot-stopping form. So much so that he has quite easily won back the #1 jersey, is the clear favourite to be our POTY, is one of the top performing goalkeepers in the league this season and you can absolutely make a claim for him being the best shot-stopper in Europe again. All of which seemed unlikely at the end of last season, so full credit to him for that.
However his current form isn't just insanely good. It's unsustainably good, being significantly better than what he was doing even in previous seasons where he was regarded as arguably the best shot-stopper in Europe. And once that form dips (as it understandably will) I don't think he'll be able to compensate for his weaknesses to enough of a degree to not be a notable issue, because those weaknesses have still been fully present throughout this resurgence in form. Of course we're a team full of issues that potentially need addressing, so even then he may well continue as our #1..
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Rarely given? That's about the only time I have seen it not given since that famous Calwert-Lewin "no foul" on DDG from last year which was also blatant foul. It was an elbow across DDG's face.
Yep. If he’d played in better teams here he’d be talked about very differently on the caf. And if those who many laud as better than him played here they’d likely look considerably worse.
Man Utd 1:0 West Ham
Excellent clean sheet. Well played David
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Much needed break for Dave!
Did MUTV give him man of the match? Had very little to do to be honest, nice that he got a rest for a change.
Nice to see him out of his area to celebrate the winner
Nice to see him out of his area to celebrate the winner
If he doesn’t concede till the end of the season (including cups), then he will claim top spot before the season ends
Nice for him to have a day off, he has earned it.
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Ronaldo is us every game.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/david-de-gea-man-united-22821959
Interesting article, I'm relieved to see there is at least a challenge, in the mainstream media, to the notion that he is our saviour this season.
I would still argue they are being slightly too generous in this article by basically saying it's ok to accept being so bad at other aspects of goal-keeping when your shot stopping is so good.
Maybe you could argue this was acceptable for an average professional keeper, but for the highest paid keeper in the world (by a mile), then no, I personally don't think it is ok to have such massive flaws in your game.
As I've said before, it's not that he's ok or below average at these other crucial aspects of goal-keeping, it's that he's horrendous/non-existant at them.
Its no surprise to me at all that he's made more saves than any other keeper in the league because coming out and catching a cross doesn't count as a save (and won't make any highlight reel either) but is obviously much more effective than having to save a shot from point blank range (you could put a cross in 3-4 yards out from our goal and De Gea still wouldn't come and claim it).
For pretty much the entire ten years De Gea has been here (apart from his first season and the last 2 when even his shot-stopping had gone to pieces), I've been hearing this narrative that he's our saviour/best player and I just don't agree at all, I honestly think he's a massive part of the problem why our defence is so unreliable.
In simple terms, surely prevention is better than a cure.
Interesting article, I'm relieved to see there is at least a challenge, in the mainstream media, to the notion that he is our saviour this season.
I would still argue they are being slightly too generous in this article by basically saying it's ok to accept being so bad at other aspects of goal-keeping when your shot stopping is so good.
Maybe you could argue this was acceptable for an average professional keeper, but for the highest paid keeper in the world (by a mile), then no, I personally don't think it is ok to have such massive flaws in your game.
As I've said before, it's not that he's ok or below average at these other crucial aspects of goal-keeping, it's that he's horrendous/non-existant at them.
Its no surprise to me at all that he's made more saves than any other keeper in the league because coming out and catching a cross doesn't count as a save (and won't make any highlight reel either) but is obviously much more effective than having to save a shot from point blank range (you could put a cross in 3-4 yards out from our goal and De Gea still wouldn't come and claim it).
For pretty much the entire ten years De Gea has been here (apart from his first season and the last 2 when even his shot-stopping had gone to pieces), I've been hearing this narrative that he's our saviour/best player and I just don't agree at all, I honestly think he's a massive part of the problem why our defence is so unreliable.
In simple terms, surely prevention is better than a cure.
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Think this is ultimately where we're at with De Gea right now. It's unsustainable and when it stops you have a problem to deal with but for now you just ride the wave of form while it lasts.
It will be weird seeing him leave at some point, for me at least. He is the only United keeper I have known.
I thought he was better with his feet during the LVG years. Looks like he used up everything for the 17-18 season
De Gea is good with his feet. He's Spanish! All Spanish are agile!
He really really isn't, and Rafa Benitez is Spanish for example.
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Didn't expect that, nice one Dave.
All of these things going on makes you appreciate Dave even more. Top player, model professional, knows how to represent our club in the right way. Congrats on your 3rd player of the month award this season.
Love De Gea but you know it's been a crap month of football when a goalkeeper wins potm.
3rd time this season dude. I agree with your sentiments though. Would be nice to see an attacker winning it, or god forbid one of our midfielders
This is Premier League POTM, not club. Apparently no gk has won this for six years, it’s a great achievement.
He got the club one aswell. Keep up
https://www.manutd.com/en/news/deta...td-player-of-the-month-award-for-january-2022
1st goalie in 6 years to win it, shows how consistently great he has been. Very happy for him, a huge turnaround from a year or so ago.
If that's the highlight reel of the best player in league for the whole of January then January must have been a terrible month of football.
He's back to his absolute best and given that GKs generally last into their late 30s or even early 40s, he could continue to be like this for a long time.
Congrats DDG! Waiting for the poster in here that says that Henderson is better and can make the whole team play better.
Not in the squad for tonight's game.
Is it confirmed?
Not officially. Just that Paddy Keogh guy from twitter.
Burnley 1:1 Man Utd
Maybe should have done better for the goal? Maybe being too harsh after watching Pope at the other end throw himself at everything and saving a few goals in the process.
Bit of no mans land in the end for him, considering Maguire made a hash of the final tackle. Looked like he was trying to anticipate the far corner shot at the same time.
Yep I thought he was poor for the goal, bottled a physical confrontation again. He practically got out of the way of Rodriguez. The opposite of what you want in that scenario.
Superb save down to his right though.
Sums up his season. Good and bad.
Only other thing be had to do was punch clear a corner.
Seeing the replays it looked like he turned away slightly expecting a collision. It wouldn't be the first time either if it was the case.
Was glued to his line as usual for the goal. Rodriguez is in the box and he still hasn't made any forward progress.
If he starts at a better position he probably smothers the effort.
In better form but we still need an upgrade.
If he starts at a better position he probably smothers the effort.
In better form but we still need an upgrade.
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It's pretty much his signature move, for ten years now I've been baffled every single time he plays at how horrendous he is at so many crucial aspects of goal-keeping. We actually pay £375,000 a week to a goalkeeper that's terrified of physical confrontation, if anyone needs a perfect example of what a shambles the club is then that's it right there.
Maguire and Shaw were obviously also massively at fault for the Burnley goal, but the difference is they are getting criticism for it, whereas, yet again, De Statue gets a free pass because he made a half decent save from Weghorst.
As I've said so many times, it doesn't matter who we sign in defence, midfield or attack, we will still struggle to win matches because De Gea's flaws are costing us possession, control, goals, and, ultimately, points on a regular basis.
At the elite level of any sport, fine margins are everything and if one of your main players has so many blindingly obvious weaknesses then it's obviously going to cost you over a season.
There's much much more to goal-keeping than shot stopping, it's that simple.
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