Pickford is experienced on the international stage & very rarely lets England down. Why should he be dropped for Henderson? An equally error prone goalkeeper, with no international experience. Seems fairly foolish to me.
What's the thinking behind all United's goalkeepers?
- Thread starter The Boy
- Start date
From a quick search some sources say £100,000 and then some agree with @DoomSlayer at £120,000. Daily Mail says £120,000.
Either way the point remains the same - it’s an exorbitant amount to be spending on goalkeepers a week.
It’s not our way. Proud academy history and all that. Realistically we should have made about £75m from Henderson, Axel and Williams if sold at the right times.
Ship Henderson immediately while he still has some value in the market. Keep de Gea for the remainder of the contract and find a new #1 at that point.
I think his excellence in the shoot out has masked an otherwise quite wobbly tournament for Pickford. His kicking in particular was very poor, which included repeatedly booting the ball straight to the opposition. I think the goalkeeping position is still open to be changed with a season and a bit of football between now and the squad being picked.
It's simple really...Heaton is a replacement for Romero...why is that complicated?
As for the Henderson/De Gea situation...well, there's plenty of posts already claiming that 'DDG is the better goalkeeper'...which there's absolutely no statistical or anecdotal evidence for since about 2019.
In fact, as I have pointed out several times, DDGs % saves, expected goals vs saves and 'mistakes leading to goals' are all the worst or second worst in the league for any GK who has played regularly over the last two seasons.
Whether or not Henderson proves to be the answer is up for debate. The fact that DDG is now no longer good enough is not. It's criminal he's on 400K per week and again, this is a 'legacy' issue we have created for ourselves from the pre-'cultural reset' era.
I can't see who would take DDG at this point, it might almost be worth us talking to him about buying up his contract, because at £21m per annum, even if we gave him £20m to go now, that would be a good, long-term saving
As for the Henderson/De Gea situation...well, there's plenty of posts already claiming that 'DDG is the better goalkeeper'...which there's absolutely no statistical or anecdotal evidence for since about 2019.
In fact, as I have pointed out several times, DDGs % saves, expected goals vs saves and 'mistakes leading to goals' are all the worst or second worst in the league for any GK who has played regularly over the last two seasons.
Whether or not Henderson proves to be the answer is up for debate. The fact that DDG is now no longer good enough is not. It's criminal he's on 400K per week and again, this is a 'legacy' issue we have created for ourselves from the pre-'cultural reset' era.
I can't see who would take DDG at this point, it might almost be worth us talking to him about buying up his contract, because at £21m per annum, even if we gave him £20m to go now, that would be a good, long-term saving
Is Hendo going to fall and break his femur or how would he suddenly stop having marketvalue?
Get used to having 2 keepers on the bench all season.
We’re hoarding goalkeepers because we plan to get the tile changed to field two at a time. That’s the only reason I can think of where this makes sense.
I really hope we move De Gea on. Last season I really saw how deep he makes us defend I legitimately saw AWB have to basically drop into the 6 yard box to control a long ball because Dave refused to leave his line. We are a much much worse team with him these days.
Instead we’ll probably end up getting 25 for Henderson & the other two will go for free
I’m convinced that the thinking is to have someone save the ball from going into the net
Heaton replaces Romero as number 3. Grant replaces Bishop as the training ground GK and he's also a bit of a coach too.
I would guess the situation is relatively simple but messy. They probably want rid of DeGea because his performances have declined substantially over a sustained period and his wages are colossal. In an ideal world I think they'd want to give Henderson a shot with Heaton as experienced and competent backup.
The problem is we may not be able to shift DeGea. He's not worth his wages nevermind a transfer fee to another club. We simply made a massive cock up going over the top with a goalkeepers contract simply because we were desperate at the time but desperation breeds bad decision making.
We've seen that before with the likes of Rooney's contract where an aging player gets a lengthy contract on money that is hard to justify simply because of the club's position. I really do think you have to take every decision on its own merit and not be so pessimistic about the club's direction as it ends up coming back to haunt you. It's a shame we didn't learn from this but in some sense it was quite hard to imagine a relatively young keeper going off the boil to this extent.
The problem is we may not be able to shift DeGea. He's not worth his wages nevermind a transfer fee to another club. We simply made a massive cock up going over the top with a goalkeepers contract simply because we were desperate at the time but desperation breeds bad decision making.
We've seen that before with the likes of Rooney's contract where an aging player gets a lengthy contract on money that is hard to justify simply because of the club's position. I really do think you have to take every decision on its own merit and not be so pessimistic about the club's direction as it ends up coming back to haunt you. It's a shame we didn't learn from this but in some sense it was quite hard to imagine a relatively young keeper going off the boil to this extent.
Grant is more of a coach than a player at this point. Yes, a younger goalkeeper could take his place in matchday squads, but it's arguably more beneficial for any youth goalkeeper good enough to make a matchday squad to go out on loan and play regularly rather than sit on the bench for most of the season if even that.
Heaton is a solid goalkeeper at the end of his career, coming off of a potentially career-ending injury. At this stage of the game for him, going back to United and having a punt at becoming the number one must have been too good an opportunity to turn down, and one that won't come along again. At the very worst, United get a good backup goalkeeper out of it, who can step in in the event of an injury/suspension crisis (i.e. both De Gea and Henderson unavailable). At best, he somehow establishes himself as the first choice.
With Henderson, you've got a young goalkeeper (in goalkeeping years) who has shown some potential, however, there's no guarantee that he'll kick on and develop into a truly top goalkeeper who can sustain that level for years (see Joe Hart, Paul Robinson, Ben Foster, Robert Green, etc.). With De Gea, you've got someone who should be entering his prime years, yet for some reason, his form has dipped dramatically over the past few seasons from the incredibly high level it once was. Who is to say that he won't regain that form? If he was sold to another club and he got back to that level, while Henderson stayed and didn't live up to the potential, you'd be kicking yourself. Conversely, if De Gea stays and Henderson gets sold and turns into a world-class goalkeeper, again, you'd be kicking yourself.
Nobody has a crystal ball, sadly. I think De Gea and Henderson will get preseason to work their nuts off and prove they should be the starter, and whoever starts the season on the bench will end up going on loan somewhere before the transfer window shuts.
Heaton is a solid goalkeeper at the end of his career, coming off of a potentially career-ending injury. At this stage of the game for him, going back to United and having a punt at becoming the number one must have been too good an opportunity to turn down, and one that won't come along again. At the very worst, United get a good backup goalkeeper out of it, who can step in in the event of an injury/suspension crisis (i.e. both De Gea and Henderson unavailable). At best, he somehow establishes himself as the first choice.
With Henderson, you've got a young goalkeeper (in goalkeeping years) who has shown some potential, however, there's no guarantee that he'll kick on and develop into a truly top goalkeeper who can sustain that level for years (see Joe Hart, Paul Robinson, Ben Foster, Robert Green, etc.). With De Gea, you've got someone who should be entering his prime years, yet for some reason, his form has dipped dramatically over the past few seasons from the incredibly high level it once was. Who is to say that he won't regain that form? If he was sold to another club and he got back to that level, while Henderson stayed and didn't live up to the potential, you'd be kicking yourself. Conversely, if De Gea stays and Henderson gets sold and turns into a world-class goalkeeper, again, you'd be kicking yourself.
Nobody has a crystal ball, sadly. I think De Gea and Henderson will get preseason to work their nuts off and prove they should be the starter, and whoever starts the season on the bench will end up going on loan somewhere before the transfer window shuts.
Who knows what's behind it. My gut feeling says we should have bought a keeper for the first team now as the keepers we have will cost us. But nobody is crazy enough to buy De Gea on his wages of course. It his up to Henderson to prove me wrong. But I wouldn't be surprised to see Utd splashing the cash on Martinez or Schmeichel next season.
Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, @thundercats No!
I believe it is a plan to move on from DDG in the future and integrate Dean to the team. Everyone know DDG on the decline and his wages is not worth to his performance. Obviously the club won't be able to sell DDG because he is on big wages but eventually DDG will be unpleased about the games time and he might decide to leave even if it means he has to take pay cut. This obviously upset some people especially Romero but I can't blame Ole completely as he was in difficult situation in 18/19 and 19/20 because DDG made lot of mistakes in those seasons so he needed to find a way to solve DDG problem and it seems ever since Dean came back, DDG started to reduce his errors but still not performing like world class he used to be.
loan de gea to wolves
De Gea, obviously, got the best contract he could, but he doesn't strike me as the kind of player who would sit on a bench content to just pocket his wages. I think if it was made clear he wasn't a first-team player anymore, he'd find a solution eventually.
Pickford's ball distribution was flat-out terrible for the most part, and it's one area where I feel Henderson shines. Pickford also comes across to me as a whiner, maybe it's just his face, but Henderson doesn't look so petulant when shouting orders at his back line.
Essentailly we have three GK's. Henderson and De Gea fighting to No.1 spot, Heaton as 3rd choice. If Grant had his coaching badges then he would be on a coaching contract but he hasn't so is retained on a player contract for an extra season.
Add in McTominay as well
Henderson will be our long term #1. De Gea is still here because he’s on an astronomical salary, pretty simple really.
According to this place we could have sold him alone for £80m.
Still, I think he’s useful and wouldn’t be in a hurry to shop him. I’ve had years of arguments about him on here and I don’t rate him as highly as some, but in a squad of 6 or so midfielders, I’m happy enough with him for now, but I suspect that could change in the coming years if the likes of Garner, Mejbri or Hansen develop as we hope. And unlike the others, he has retained value for when he inevitably leaves, given that he isn’t amongst those that we refuse to sell while playing 5 times a season.
De Gea's partner is considering relocating now?! 9 or so years after he arrived and with his time surely quickly reducing?
Seems quite odd.
Seems quite odd.
Nothing better I would like than for United to sign Oblak with De Gea going the other way but if that happens Henderson definitely wouldn't be hanging around as he's already made his position clear to the club. Unfortunately there's no noises coming from the Oblak camp that he's looking for a move. Best keeper in the world IMO.
I don't think it will ever happen but here is my dream scenario: Sell Henderson for 40-50 Million. Use that money and De Gea to get Oblak and Trippier from Atletico. Then we run away as fast as we can with a huge smile on our faces.
Romero was excluded from our squad last season. In a sense he had already left a year ago. Only now, when his contract expires, he's technically off our book.
Heaton can't just replace a guy who was in exile. If he is to take Grant's 3rd spot just to relegate Grant to be no4, it's incredibly weird. You don't need a veteran as your 4th GK just to waste a squad spot. An U21 GK should be good enough for that purpose.
Surely De Gea and Henderson won't both stick around forever. If none is off-loaded this summer, then probably next summer, if not January. United will probably back the other as the #1 when that happens, and here we had a chance of sweeping up a solid GK that loves United for no fee on a 2+1 contract.
Tbh, it makes sense to me. Grant is not really a factor. He's a GK coach who's eligible to play, and won't complain if he gets 0 minutes.
Tbh, it makes sense to me. Grant is not really a factor. He's a GK coach who's eligible to play, and won't complain if he gets 0 minutes.
I just realized if we didn’t have DDG, we could have signed Donnarumma for €250k/ week. We could then have sold Henderson for €30m.
The net result would be that we would be saving around €15m / year in wages and would have made €30m in transfer money.
The net result would be that we would be saving around €15m / year in wages and would have made €30m in transfer money.
The issue is having the 4th choice veteran GK. If you don't register him, why bother extending his contract? We already have a bloated squad that we can't register everyone on our book.
Even if you're entertaining the swap deal scenario, it's the same. You still do charity work to the 4th choice GK, who has access to the club facility rent free, just get paid. Easy money.
DDG is on a crazy wage for a GK. It's a dumb move to try to piss him off this way. It's not like there is a host of big clubs queuing for him. He's unlikely to take a pay cut to play for some small clubs. What is more likelier is he just stay around to collect his handsome paycheck.
It’s possible to register new players in exceptional circumstances outside of a transfer window, e.g. registering a new goalkeeper if two senior goalkeepers are injured/unavailable. It’s up to the Premier League to give it the okay, but it’s possible. That might explain why Grant is signed as a player but not currently registered.
I am aware of it. But let's be real here, our third choice is good enough to take over, and a U21 GK to be a sub. It's not like our 2 main GKs having a bad injury record. I doubt PL would be that easy to Grant a registration to push Grant into squad as a back up, beside season ending injuries to 2 main GKs.
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De Gea is only 30, it's wasy to forget that.
Yes, but not in terms of commanding his box, dealing with crosses, moving up behind a high line, distribution and communication.
DeGea’s strong points are faithfully staying on his line, regardless of where he ought to be, and reaction shot saves from behind a low block defence.
He was great for you 3 seasons ago and prior to that, maybe the best at what he did well back in the day, but football moved on and he didn’t have the skill set or aptitude to follow it.
If it weren’t for the fact that no other football club would pay him anything approaching the huge wedge he gets at Utd, he’d already be gone - probably to a league where football’s not yet played out from the back so that he could be relevant again.
While Henderson may be better in all those attribute, his overall quality is not yet making him better than DDG. It's more about the case of edging than the other's flaws than actually being prominent in those attributes.
"commanding his box, dealing with crosses, moving up behind a high line, distribution and communication". Any of these, Henderson yet to show he's the best in business. Any of those, there are better GKs in this league. And in technical aspect, Henderson is not flawless. Making fair share of mistakes. There is a reason Pickford is still England no.1 despite performing shocking for Everton in many occasions.
If De Gea, Henderson, and Heaton are all injured, would you rather have Grant or an U21 goalkeeper with no PL experience having to play?
Yes he did. He got better every year, under three different coaches, up to when Frank Hoek was sacked and replaced by Dave’s mate. He’s certainly stagnated and declined since then.
How many teams are as stacked in GK department as us for the past season and now? There the answer is. The chance for all these injuries is low. A long term injuries for all 3 that would be able us to persuade PL to Grant that permission is even lower. The likeliest scenario is paying someone for just sitting out and collecting pay. We did last season.
Edit: Hell. Our third choice (Grant) didn't play a game last season. I only remembered 2 games he featured for the 3 years he's here as third choice.
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