Why is everyone so certain that DDG will be a starter under ETH?

sunama

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just one of the reasons I wanted Enrique to get the manager's job!
He would've been top tier, for sure.
But he is obsessed with the Spanish job.
Even if he was available, I'm not sure he'd have joined us as we simply aren't good enough.
 

Greck

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To clarify, I'm not saying De Gea is a good sweeper, I'm simply saying I don't think we've seen any evidence that he's been told to even start a little higher up the pitch. With that, it remains remains to be seen whether he can be aggressive enough in his engagment once the instruction is there (though like you I think he'll be found wanting).

Regardless, I still think the enormous gap we leave inbetween defence and midfield is more indicative of the organisation of our defenders more than anything. We're not seeing defenders that constantly stay back to prevent a ball over the top. They do actually try to engage high up the pitch sometimes. They just do it at stupid times and are miles too slow to do so.

If ten Hag decides that a new keeper is a priority for him then I'm more than happy with that, I just don't see a replacement being an immediate priority for him. I will say though I don't think there's a keeper in the world that could have prevented some of the idiocy we've seen from our defenders this season.
I'd like to see him as our number one for at least another year for sentimental reasons however it's not tactical instructions making him timid or conservative. He doesn't even leave his line in situations a traditional keeper would. He isn't conservative by sweeper standards, he's conservative period.

Where I'm at is all our best players have awkward traits for ETH's style of football. They all seem to have this one massive, actively detrimental weakness we're asking ETH to overcome. Like actual proper weaknesses the player is atrocious at. Number 9 too old for intensive pressing, keeper that can't sweep, number 10 whose style is the farthest from ball retention philosophy and defenders/midfielders that are even worse at defending space than said keeper. We might even be on the receiving end of some massive scorelines next season if we accommodate everyone.
 

Bebestation

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The way the defensive line played almost the position of Fred and Mctominay once Henderson became our GK was jaw dropping.

It showed me just how much this can hold us back, even if the shot stopping ability is weaker; our defence will improve.
 

Lyng

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It shouldn't be one or the other though, upgrade both the midfield and gk and our defense will look a whole lot better of not being so exposed by these two areas.
Our problems are deeper than that. The idea that somehow if we fix midfield and goalkeeper someone like Maguire suddenly develops the agility and ball handling skills to play that style of football.
We wont be playing well in a modern progressive style until our entire back 5 and some of our midfield is fixed.
 

Judas

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Unfortunately we have so many other issues, and De Gea is a very expensive issue to fix on top of everything else.

A simple answer.
And a correct answer.
He'll probably finish up as our player of the year, too.
If he wins it again in this time with us it doesn't bode well how the next few years are going to pan out.
 

wolvored

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We shouldnt be offering him a new contract unless he agrees on a cut. I read about a month ago he was on the list for one. Hes already the highest paid goalie in the world 375k a week the report said, so shouldnt be getting 400k. I hope we are scouting for his replacement, or maybe we have one in the youth setup who can step up. Henderson in the few games i have seen him play, isnt the answer.
 

RoyH1

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I don't know what ETH makes of DDG. But since I'm assuming he's a shrewd man, he'll see that we have about 6 or 7 burning fires to put out personnelwise and DDG's not one of them. And we're not a mineral wealth funded club so he cannot solve everything in one window.
 

Dante

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I saw this xGA graph on Reddit.

DDG had 2 seasons of awful form, followed by a few months of great form, followed by even more bad form.

He's north of 30 now and a decline is inevitably around the corner given the athletic way he plays the goalie position.

It's now or never, really. From a footballing perspective, I'm leaning towards a new 'keeper anyway because of his inability to come off his line. But this summer might also be the last chance to cash-in and remove the final Sanchez-era salary structure busting contract from the wage bill*. Put those two dimensions together, and I think selling him should be a major consideration for EtH.

*Ronaldo obviously has a bigger salary, but he's a special case in ways that nobody in the squad will ever expect to match.
 

mitchmouse

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I don't know what ETH makes of DDG. But since I'm assuming he's a shrewd man, he'll see that we have about 6 or 7 burning fires to put out personnelwise and DDG's not one of them. And we're not a mineral wealth funded club so he cannot solve everything in one window.
we could get as much for DDG as a good replacement would cost (and Henderson is pretty good if you ask me, plus if Burnley go down Pope is likely to want to leave and they'll need to cash in. The guys at West Ham, Villa and Brighton are pretty good too without commanding enormous fees, I'm sure). Wjhtever anyone says about DDG, just look at our "goals conceded" column
 

justsomebloke

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we could get as much for DDG as a good replacement would cost (and Henderson is pretty good if you ask me, plus if Burnley go down Pope is likely to want to leave)
I doubt we'd get anything at all for DDG. With his wages, the number of potential destinations can be counted on one mutilated hand, and none of them are currently in the market for a starting goaltender. I think we'd be looking at a loan, with no guarantee we'd even recoup his wages.

Not that it fundamentally matters - the question is if EtH thinks he can make it work with DDG at the back. If the answer is no, then there's a compelling case for moving him, whether we get something out of it or not. And I agree Henderson deserves a shot if we go down that road.
 

mitchmouse

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I doubt we'd get anything at all for DDG. With his wages, the number of potential destinations can be counted on one mutilated hand, and none of them are currently in the market for a starting goaltender. I think we'd be looking at a loan, with no guarantee we'd even recoup his wages.

Not that it fundamentally matters - the question is if EtH thinks he can make it work with DDG at the back. If the answer is no, then there's a compelling case for moving him, whether we get something out of it or not. And I agree Henderson deserves a shot if we go down that road.
PSG tend to talk about changing their keeper every summer! Maybe he can go as part of the package for Pogba :P
 

mitchmouse

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Except they've got two, haven't they. Both of whom has a reasonable claim to start.
I think Navas is done there, but I was only joking. donnarumma isn't going to be replaced after one season but Wojciech Szczęsny might be under threat at Juve. My point remains, we could get money for DDG
 

mctrials23

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DDG isn't a pressing issue in the grand scheme of our current issues, he is on an obscene salary making any move very unlikely and replacing him with a better keeper would be expensive.

He will probably be replaced over the next 2-3 seasons as more of ETHs squad comes together. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong and he will be first on the chopping block. I doubt it though.
 

Dante

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PSG tend to talk about changing their keeper every summer! Maybe he can go as part of the package for Pogba :P
DDG to Atletico would suit absolutely everyone.

DDG would be able to return to his home town and childhood club as the prodigal son. United would get a decent transfer fee and cut a massive chunk out of the wage bill. Atletico would be able to replace an underperforming Oblak. And in terms of playing style, Simeone would get a top shot stopper for his deep line as opposed to the poor fit De Gea would be for EtH's high line. Playing in Spain might even get DDG back into the national team if he's lucky.
 

justsomebloke

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DDG to Atletico would suit absolutely everyone.

DDG would be able to return to his home town and childhood club as the prodigal son. United would get a decent transfer fee and cut a massive chunk out of the wage bill. Atletico would be able to replace an underperforming Oblak. And in terms of playing style, Simeone would get a top shot stopper for his deep line as opposed to the poor fit De Gea would be for EtH's high line. Playing in Spain might even get DDG back into the national team if he's lucky.
All true, but could Atletico afford his wages, and are they really dropping Oblak after one poor season?
 

Ekeke

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On the interesting things I noticed on the caf recently is that most people predict that DDG will be the starting GK under ETH. I don't understand this logic. You either haven't watched ETH's teams or you vastly overstate DDG's abilities.

ETH's ideal keeper is someone who can comfortably play in the high line. He is there to initiate attacks and bypass the press via his distribution. He has to be proactive and sweep the balls played behind the high line in order to ease off the pressure on the defense.

DDG does not have a single attribute mentioned above. Not only is he a reactive GK that is glued to his line all the time, but his distribution is shocking. The only redeeming feature are his insane reflexes which in a dysfunctional team like ours make him stand out more than he should.

But if you've followed ETH, he religiously prefers goalkeepers with a better distribution over reflexes. Take Pasaveer as an example: he signed a 39 year old GK simply because of his distribution. Reflex wise he left a lot to be desired. Just look at that 2-2 vs Benfica. Same thing with Onana: he was prioritized due to him matching the above description, despite always having an error in him.

Personally I think barring a miracle DDG will warm the bench starting next season and Henderson will be our starting GK as he seem to posses some of the attributes I mentioned above.
Theres at least 5 other positions to replace players before doing this. Longterm you're probably right but it'll be over a period of a year or two, while we cant wait that long for a new cb, probably 2 midfielders, a striker and either another CB or a fullback

Chelsea signed 5 players for 247 million euros the in the summer before Lampard was sacked and Tuchel got the team working. They also signed Thiago Silva and Malang Sarr on free transfers. So they had at least 6 players signed in 1 summer that were with a view to starting. And 1 of them was a goalkeeper, true.

We dont have anywhere near that amount of ambition, the most we did was probably when we signed Nani, Anderson, Tevez on loan and Hargreaves. So we're probably not going to match that amount of change and for us we'll have done well to get 4 or 5 players expecting to start in instead of the usual 2-3
 

Speako

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Yes he’ll need replacing in the not too distant future, but right now? It won’t even be a conversation. It would be like walking into a burning house and asking should we re-tile the bathroom.
 

GoldanoGraham

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We will get an indication soon with what happens with Henderson.

There is no way he is sitting on the bench again all season, and on £125k a week it is insane to do so. He is either given some guarantees or he leaves.

My gut feeling is that Henderson will go out on loan next season as just think that there are too many other fish to fry this summer that are bigger issues……unless Ralf and ETH have been discussing the need to build from the keeper as a priority - when you consider how shite our FB’s are at passing he has a lot of surgery to do!

I suppose at least Henderson is already at the club?
 

roonster09

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Mclaren: 'The keeper is the main man in the build-up'
If they stick to that, then Henderson should get more chances at least till we sign new GK.
 

Alfie092

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Add £10m more and we would have a potentially long-term world-class goalkeeper in Robert Sanchez, who only can improve under ETH. He should be attainable for around £30m.
While I am not 100% convinced of Sanchez as of yet, I have seen him have moments of madness in the few games I've seen Brighton play! However, while he has solid shot-stopping which isn't as good as of now compared to DDG, he is miles clear in terms of ball-playing ability.

Considering his age, fairly low-ish transfer fee (providing it's no more than £30-£35m), modern goalkeeping abilities, PL proven and the fact he is ahead of DDG ahead in the Spanish pecking order surely counts for something, I am happy to take a punt on him! He is also a GK where probably not too many top clubs would be pushing hard on him this summer and he will definitely be willing to want to come to us and signing players who want to play for United and not just for the money is important to me!
 

NewYorkRed

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Andy Cole, Bryan Robson and Neville have just said they would give him the POTS and that he’s been phenomenal. Yet so many on here think he’s a huge problem :lol: Bunch of Fifa career mode geniuses
 

lex talionis

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Quite literally the last position we need to spend a huge sum on is a keeper. We could do with upgrades at CB, fullbacks, midfield and the front line first.
 

shamans

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De Gea's distribution is not "shocking". I don't know when this myth originated but it's nonsense.

He was known for being good with the ball at his feet back in the day and is a relatively precise passer who is calm when in possession. He also finds a decent balance between when to kick long and when to pass short.

People conflate things. His general passiveness and unwillingness to come out of his area are confused with poor distribution. People also often fail to recognise that it's harder for DDG to pass it out than it is for other keepers because there are so few players moving around and finding space.

He doesn't have that greatest distribution in the world but it's not nearly the problem area some are making it out to be.
The bold part is true which is why it's even more shocking how bad he is.

Compared to all other keepers of top teams his distribution is garbage. It becomes shocking when you consider at one time h was considered decent with his feet.
 

shamans

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Andy Cole, Bryan Robson and Neville have just said they would give him the POTS and that he’s been phenomenal. Yet so many on here think he’s a huge problem :lol: Bunch of Fifa career mode geniuses
Neville would have also given ole a 10 year contract. It doesn't mean much.

De Gea along with Ronaldo was indeed our best player this season but that doesn't mean he's not part of a flawed system we have going on here.
 

horsechoker

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Quite literally the last position we need to spend a huge sum on is a keeper. We could do with upgrades at CB, fullbacks, midfield and the front line first.
EtH will need to make do as he can't bring in 8 new signings this window. Down the road though DDG will need to be replaced, it will be quite hard to compete if all these best teams have a a goalkeeper who is also a deep-lying playmaker
 

Remember the geese

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Andy Cole, Bryan Robson and Neville have just said they would give him the POTS and that he’s been phenomenal. Yet so many on here think he’s a huge problem :lol: Bunch of Fifa career mode geniuses
Ignorance is bliss. By all means carry on believing he's this world class keeper.
 

foolsgold

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Quite literally the last position we need to spend a huge sum on is a keeper. We could do with upgrades at CB, fullbacks, midfield and the front line first.
No one is suggesting we spend any money, let alone huge sums on a keeper. The choice is De Gea or Henderson.

Personally I'm in favour of making the switch, I think Dean is the best long term option and better suited to the modern game.
 

Trequarista10

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Out of interest, those who have watched De Gea for Spain regularly, how has he done for them at playing out from the back?

I would have assumed he'd look a hell of a lot more comfortable at it in a team that is actually well suited to playing that way. He's obviously not as good at it as some present day keepers, but he's also not a throwback to a 1980s lower league keeper that some people seem to suggest.
 

JB7

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Quite literally the last position we need to spend a huge sum on is a keeper. We could do with upgrades at CB, fullbacks, midfield and the front line first.
Why does it need to be a huge sum? Even if you don't like Henderson, why does a replacement goalkeeper for De Gea need to be more than the £25m or so we'd probably get selling him?

You look back at last summer at goalkeepers that would be substantial upgrades moving for fees considerably lower than £25m, Maignan moving clubs for less than £15m (I'm still not over how we just sat by and let that happen tbh), Jose Sa for less than £10m, Donnarumma on a free, Kobel less than £15m. So yeah, the goalkeepers are there, you just have to look for them.
Out of interest, those who have watched De Gea for Spain regularly, how has he done for them at playing out from the back?

I would have assumed he'd look a hell of a lot more comfortable at it in a team that is actually well suited to playing that way. He's obviously not as good at it as some present day keepers, but he's also not a throwback to a 1980s lower league keeper that some people seem to suggest.
I can only presume you've never watched a 1980s lower league goalkeeper if you think De Gea is a throwback to one.
 

cyril C

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The way the defensive line played almost the position of Fred and Mctominay once Henderson became our GK was jaw dropping.

It showed me just how much this can hold us back, even if the shot stopping ability is weaker; our defence will improve.
Do you mean, with a new way of goal keeping, maguire will be as good as VVD, Lindelof can match Diaz, Fred will be as good as Kante, McTom as good as Rice, Telles will be as good as Robertson, Rashford like Jota? And we already have such a keeper, Henderson. Just play Henderson, we will be EPL Champion. Save the millions this summer, pay dividend instead, since we have such great scouting team.

Don't mean to be sarcastic, but we have 6 players to replace, another 6-9 players to be seriously scrutinised, there is no place to pick on your best. Live with it for another season or 2, then consider creating beautiful football for the future.
 

daba

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Why does it need to be a huge sum? Even if you don't like Henderson, why does a replacement goalkeeper for De Gea need to be more than the £25m or so we'd probably get selling him?

You look back at last summer at goalkeepers that would be substantial upgrades moving for fees considerably lower than £25m, Maignan moving clubs for less than £15m (I'm still not over how we just sat by and let that happen tbh), Jose Sa for less than £10m, Donnarumma on a free, Kobel less than £15m. So yeah, the goalkeepers are there, you just have to look for them.

I can only presume you've never watched a 1980s lower league goalkeeper if you think De Gea is a throwback to one.
I agree with your point that there are always good keepers options out there below 25m, however if there is someone available who is the real deal and perfect for your style (a la Alisson for Liverpool) then we shouldn’t be afraid to push the button.

Maignan was the one. How he went for 12m or so is beyond me (unless is was a release clause?). I wouldn’t be against us going in for him next summer tbf, even if it is for 45m or so, as I think the stability he could bring would be immense, as well as being a leader and a proven winner with Lille and now AC.
 

JB7

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That's literally what I said.
That's the thing, literally nobody thinks he's a throwback to a 1980's lower league goalkeeper. If he was a goalkeeper playing the way he does in the lower leagues in the 1980's he'd be getting battered every week and it's questionable as to whether it would be the opposing strikers or his own defenders doing it.
 

NewYorkRed

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Ignorance is bliss. By all means carry on believing he's this world class keeper.
I will. So will all the people who matter at the club, like ETH who by all means ticks all of the hipster boxes. DDG is world class and that's a fact. He will go down as a club legend so put some respect on his name.