Martin Dúbravka - Recalled by Newcastle

[Varane around town]

We couldn't got into the season with Heaton as number 2. Nor could we sign 'keeper with the ability to challenge De Gea whilst Henderson is on loan (despite me wanting to see the back of Henderson come what may)

So, this is best compromise we could hope for. He's a decent Premier League 'keeper and if we need to rest DDG for some pointless games or if DDG picks up an injury then he'll do a job.

 

[Nevilles.Wear.Prada]

Always been his biggest fan since 53 mins ago. Shrewd catch.

 

[daveskimufc]

Europa league and maybe cup games

I've always liked degea, but he does limit the play. I'd like to think that a couple of Europa games and eth may have a decision to make

 

[Dr. Dwayne]

Who have we brought in on loan in the last ~15 years? This guy, Ighalo, Falcao, Tevez (technically), Kuszczak, anyone else?

Henrik Larsson joined in January 2007 didn't he?

 

[Heinzesight]

Rollin’ on Dubs baybee.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Every loan deal has a clause like that.

Not when there's a big fee involved? Unless they return at least half of it, or pay some sort of penalty

 

[Big Ben Foster]

Henrik Larsson joined in January 2007 didn't he?

Yup, forgot about him initially. Quality player.

 

[Revan]

I see the logic in this.

I can see Ten Hag binning both De Gea and Henderson next summer, instead going for a goalkeeper who completely suits the team.
Dubravka would be a shrewd investment at #2 if this transpired.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he shifts De Gea by Christmas.

Needs to be some cheap keeper though. I expect a striker and a creative midfielder will be higher in the priority list. We probably won’t spend over 100m net next summer.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Not when there's a big fee involved? Unless they return at least half of it, or pay some sort of penalty

Let’s be honest, we know nothing about any of these details. I’m just saying the option to recall/cancel the loan at the next transfer window is standard. Clubs have to put that in in case there’s an injury crisis, or their players has been completely frozen out.

 

[TrustInJanuzaj]

I think he will prove he’s better than De Gea if he gets chances. Sounds harsh but wouldn’t mind de Gea getting a small knock so he gets his chance sooner rather than later.

 

[Forevergiggs1]

If he's established himself as our #1 by then though then he'll have no doubt played enough games to trigger the obligation to buy clause.

The way I read it the obligation to buy is triggered next summer. If he plays X amount of games we would have to pay £6m. Not sure if it coincides with triggering the obligation to buy though.

Does seem a strange bit of business even though I do quite rate him as a keeper. Being world cup year we'll probably be paying 2m for the loan fee with him having little chance of getting any (much) game time in the couple of months left before then, when Heaton is on standby if anything happens with De Gea.

On the other hand if he gets into the team and plays really well Newcastle could quiet rightly ask for his recall leaving us back again at square one after a very short period of time. I'm know stranger deals have happened in football but this doesn't feel like the best deal we could of made but then again not knowing all the details makes our assumptions easy to make and possibly way off the mark.

 

[acnumber9]

On the other hand if he gets into the team and plays really well Newcastle could quiet rightly ask for his recall leaving us back again at square one after a very short period of time.

I don’t think they can do that when United have paid a loan fee.

 

[King Azaz the Unabridged]

That's not what his stats show though. Comfortably better stats than De Gea in sweeping, high claims and especially successful long passes. For a Ten Hag system he is looking good.

Quick FBRef + Excel comparison I pulled together after learning we were linked with Dubravka, just to see if De Gea is actually as woeful at the bolded bit as he looks to us (as in, I know he's awful at dealing with high balls, but I wanted to see how some other keepers in the league did in comparison). The results were sobering to say the least:

2019 - 2022	Games	Crosses Faced	Crosses Stopped	Cross Stop %	Net Goals Saved / (Cost) (Post-Shot XG)	Net PSXG per game
Dubravka	77	756	50	6.6%	15.5	0.20​
Ederson	108	533	42	7.9%	2.5	0.02​
Alisson	97	636	59	9.3%	10.8	0.11​
Lloris	96	907	50	5.5%	11.8	0.12​
Ramsdale	109	920	73	7.9%	(3.1)	-0.03​
Mendy	64	450	32	7.1%	(0.3)	0.00​
Fabianski	97	940	51	5.4%	7.1	0.07​
Martinez	82	755	55	7.3%	8.1	0.10​
Schmeichel	114	868	53	6.1%	3.0	0.03​
Pickford	103	920	71	7.7%	(3.5)	-0.03​
Henderson	48	396	32	8.1%	5.5	0.11​
De Gea	102	786	34	4.3%	8.9	0.09​

So not only is De Gea the worst out of all these keepers by a mile at dealing with crosses, which was expected for anyone with eyes who's seen us play in recent years, but he's also middle of the pack at shot-stopping (after controlling for appearances) which is his one strength. While Dubravka is actually leading the pack in terms of shot-stopping and comfortably ahead of De Gea at crosses.

Like I said in my last post, Dubravka should be an upgrade*.

*analysis doesn't account for passing and sweeping, mostly because I couldn't be arsed pulling the numbers together in my lunch break. But I would be extremely surprised to see De Gea significantly outperforming him - or most other PL keepers - in either metric.

 

[Vapor trail]

Who the hell negotiates those deals at United?

It's ridiculous along with Garner almost trolling.

 

[Forevergiggs1]

I don’t think they can do that when United have paid a loan fee.

It's (apparently) written into his contrat that Newcastle have the option to recall in January if they wish.

 

[acnumber9]

It's (apparently) written into his contrat that Newcastle have the option to recall in January if they wish.

Then United have been foolish. Incredibly unlikely to occur though. And if it did you’d assume we wouldn’t pay the full loan fee.

 

[Smores]

Does anyone actually watch football anymore? He's no where near De Gea ffs. He's a good backup signing that's all.

 

[miked99]

Whilst I welcome his arrival, it should be remembered he couldn't even get into Newcastle's team. Not just this season, but last season when they were terrible for the majority of the time. So it might be worth tempering expectations a little.

That said, I prefer him to Henderson.

 

[tomaldinho1]

£2m for a backup keeper for half a season minimum and people still complaining.

 

[syrian_scholes]

Whilst I welcome his arrival, it should be remembered he couldn't even get into Newcastle's team. Not just this season, but last season when they were terrible for the majority of the time. So it might be worth tempering expectations a little.

That said, I prefer him to Henderson.

Wasn't he injured?

 

[Bebe]

De Gea has historically responded to competition, I like this move.

 

[redsunited]

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They can recall him in January? Wtf is this?

Definitely not planned that he actually challenges De Gea then.

Seems they have pulled our pants down. Big clubs do this to small feeder clubs. He is younger than VDS when he signed for United. It could have been a good signing if he excelled. The Jan option sucks! Not sure how it works when there is a loan fee as well.

 

[redsunited]

Do you think he will get much game time?
Or just waiting for potential injuries

I think he will get all cup matches.

 

[RkkMan]

Seriously? I think we are stuck with DDG for a long while yet unless we pay him to leave.

His contract expires next year. Don't see us extending on his current wages at 33

 

[Shakesy]

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Ooh, I like the design

 

[Shakesy]

And the crowd goes mild!

Poor guy. Actually, scrap that. Richer and better than I'll ever be.

 

[SoCross]

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuubravka! - at goal kicks ?

 

[cj_sparky]

Just seen his agent is Championship Manager legend Cherno Samba.

 

[colombianmancunian]

Does anyone actually watch football anymore? He's no where near De Gea ffs. He's a good backup signing that's all.

It’s the typical caf, everyone underrate our players horribly and overrate opposition players (or players who come from opposition PL sides)

Dubranka as you said, is just a solid backup GK

 

[RetroStu]

It blows my mind the amount of people that want rid of De Gea. I honestly dont know if i would want any other keeper in terms of saving shots. I mean the amount of times he has literally saved games with his saves, its crazy.

 

[Kramer]

It blows my mind the amount of people that want rid of De Gea. I honestly dont know if i would want any other keeper in terms of saving shots. I mean the amount of times he has literally saved games with his saves, its crazy.

It’s not his shot stopping that’s the issue.

One key reason we cannot implement the kind of football Ten Hang wants us to play is because De Gea is so poor with his feet. His distribution even for long balls is pretty awful.

I’m a huge De Gea fan btw. But we need to move on him if we need to implement playing out from the back which is what the manager wants.

I don’t think ETH will allow him to renew his contract, especially at the absurd wages we pay him.

 

[bringbackbebe]

It’s not his shot stopping that’s the issue.

One key reason we cannot implement the kind of football Ten Hang wants us to play is because De Gea is so poor with his feet. His distribution even for long balls is pretty awful.

I’m a huge De Gea fan btw. But we need to move on him if we need to implement playing out from the back which is what the manager wants.

I don’t think ETH will allow him to renew his contract, especially at the absurd wages we pay him.

Agree. De Gea's poor distribution is due to him being bad with his feet which makes him uncomfortable when pressed. He's a decent keeper but is more suited to a team that sits & counters. Varane/Martinez seems to be making up for a lot of his limitations this season.

 

[Ole'sattheWheel]

Just seen his agent is Championship Manager legend Cherno Samba.

Jesus Christ what a throwback

 

[Oldbird7]

Agree. De Gea's poor distribution is due to him being bad with his feet which makes him uncomfortable when pressed. He's a decent keeper but is more suited to a team that sits & counters. Varane/Martinez seems to be making up for a lot of his limitations this season.

Saw some improvements against Leicester with his short passing though. I saw an interesting stat that good passing keepers like Ederson's average length of their passes are significantly shorter than the type long balls (ie. 26m vs 40m). Whilst i have no doubt that Ederson's long ball passes are still much better than De Gea, i think keepers with good distribution also have their teams play around it, making themselves available for the pass, usually in their own half so the rest of the team has to be drilled to receive the passes as well.

 

[bringbackbebe]

Saw some improvements against Leicester with his short passing though. I saw an interesting stat that good passing keepers like Ederson's average length of their passes are significantly shorter than the type long balls (ie. 26m vs 40m). Whilst i have no doubt that Ederson's long ball passes are still much better than De Gea, i think keepers with good distribution also have their teams play around it, making themselves available for the pass, usually in their own half so the rest of the team has to be drilled to receive the passes as well.

He panics when he sees a player running, even if 50 yards out:

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Source post: https://www.redcafe.net/threads/david-de-gea-2022-23-performances.471392/page-24#post-29431419

 

[OpenIntrovert]

De Gea has historically responded to competition, I like this move.

Agree. Dubravka's purchase is to unofficially motivate De Gea into staying focused.

 

[RkkMan]

It blows my mind the amount of people that want rid of De Gea. I honestly dont know if i would want any other keeper in terms of saving shots. I mean the amount of times he has literally saved games with his saves, its crazy.

The same way defending isn't just about tacking anymore is how goalkeeping isn't just about saving shots and outside shot stopping De Gea is severely limited in other areas which holds us back in many ways you'll eventually see if you haven't already
He's a necessary evil we have to deal with this season because we had bigger problems to sort out but come next year we need a new GK in the Alisson/Ederson mould to allow us to play more expansively

 

[Castia]

It blows my mind the amount of people that want rid of De Gea. I honestly dont know if i would want any other keeper in terms of saving shots. I mean the amount of times he has literally saved games with his saves, its crazy.

Did you see our goal kicks and pass backs to the keeper? every single ball hoofed 60 yards up the field to a Leicester player.

Playing out from the back is a massive part of the modern game and more importantly the way ETH wants to play.

Im not a dea Gea hater by the way I never criticise him but it’s a glaring issue that we keep giving up needless possession.

He’s a top old school keeper, shame his distribution is awful.

 

[Nevilles.Wear.Prada]

Jesus Christ what a throwback

Omg.. Earlier version ha add this bug where he had horrible stats but scores 50 goals every season. What s throwback

 

[Nevilles.Wear.Prada]

It blows my mind the amount of people that want rid of De Gea. I honestly dont know if i would want any other keeper in terms of saving shots. I mean the amount of times he has literally saved games with his saves, its crazy.

He excels in it no doubt. No offense, But good keepers don't just rely on it alone. They command and control the defence, makes it very stable. They also distribute it better and able to take part in relieving the press from opposition forwards.
A stable defence negates and nullify the press and allows the defence to help midfielder push further forward.
If you think about it, its the defence that wins you trophies. And what is a defence without a modern gk who is not very comfortable with the ball?
Its football, you need to be excellent with it first and foremost. DDG treats the ball like its a timed bomb and just needed to get rid of it ASAP. The game has since passed him by.

Great service but it's about time 5 years ago now.