adminDavid De Gea punched the air in celebration and roared at the fans in Old Trafford’s East Stand. The delight of beating Liverpool, of keeping a clean sheet, of producing another master class in goal was plain to see.
For Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney and others who believe De Gea is maturing into the best goalkeeper on the planet, Sunday’s 3-0 win over the old enemy provided more evidence to support their case.
Three one-on-one blocks from Raheem Sterling and another three excellent saves to deny Mario Balotelli made the Spaniard an obvious candidate for man of the match. United’s debt to De Gea is growing by the game.
The 24-year-old no longer looks like a man overwhelmed by the task of following in the footsteps of United greats like Edwin van der Sar and Peter Schmeichel.
‘He’s the best keeper in the world,’ said Rooney. ‘He’s shown great form and some of his saves are incredible.
‘Edwin van der Sar had the best years of his career when he was with us in his late 30s so David has a great future ahead of him. If he keeps working hard the way he is, he will have many years at the top.’
To play such an important role in defeating Liverpool was particularly sweet for De Gea.
It was in a harrowing FA Cup defeat to the Merseysiders almost three years ago that he hit his lowest point at United.
De Gea cut a haunted figure as United lost at Anfield in January 2012. He missed training for several days and there were concerns he was crumbling under the pressure. Staff feared he was not up to the physical demands of English football and pining for home.
United duly opened talks with Stoke over a £15million deal for Asmir Begovic that would have seen De Gea relegated to second choice.
However, they persevered with him and the boy grew into a man. De Gea bulked up significantly with the help of protein shakes and long hours in the gym. He has exuded confidence this season behind an ever-changing United defence.
He can communicate better with his team-mates because he has learned the language, but also due to the influx of Spanish speakers such as Juan Mata, Angel di Maria, Ander Herrera, Radamel Falcao and Marcos Rojo. He has also benefited from work with the club’s new goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek, who helped develop Van der Sar at Ajax in the early 90s.
Rooney said: ‘To play in goal for United at 20 is difficult, especially trying to replace Van der Sar, who was a fantastic keeper.
‘We knew it might take time with David and it did. The first six months, probably a year, it was hard but he worked hard on his game and it shows.’
De Gea is understood to be uncertain about the presence of another Spaniard, Victor Valdes, the former Barcelona No 1 who has been training at Carrington and is expected to play in a behind-closed-doors friendly later this week.
If all goes well, he will be offered a deal to replace Anders Lindegaard as De Gea’s main competition.
Meanwhile, United are said to be relaxed over De Gea’s contract which runs out in just 18 months’ time, and confident he will sign a new one despite growing interest from Real Madrid. – Daily Mail Sport
Online Reporter