David De Gea: Manchester United's Saving Grace

It's safe to say that one of the main reasons why Manchester United are there in the top four is because of their goal keeper David De Gea. He's been an angel in disguise for the English club. His transformation since joining United from Atletico Madrid  has been extra ordinary. From a Keeper who looked very unconvincing and frail, even though he was an outstanding keeper back in Spain it seemed like the English Premier would be challenging for him. At his arrival to England he did not look like your ordinary keeper in England who looked stocky and commanding, he looked very skinny and looked like he would get bullied by the opposition attackers, which he did get bullied by initially.

But slowly and surely he started to improve season after season, started to look more commanding at the back, his positioning started to improve he became better in saving set pieces. He was the outstanding player last season even though Manchester United had a dismal season under
David Moyes by being voted as Manchester United Player of the year.

David De Gea irrespective of his transformation from when he joined United till now was that he was always an agile keeper his reflexes were good and he is not your orthodox keeper his style of keeping is very unorthodox yet very effective. Only thing that let him down as a keeper when he joined Manchester United was his positioning which has changed now and also his ball handling skills was very poor especially during set pieces like  your corner kicks, De Gea used to charge but completely misjudge his handling and positioning and pay the price.
 

But that's all changed now. De Gea looks more composed in the six yard box his ball handling has drastically improved . Strikers are scared now to score past him or face him one on one. His ability to read the game and make quick decisions like, when to charge out when to be aggressive have been phenomenal. He is surely one of the best keepers in the world currently, maybe someday he could be the number one keeper in the world but it would take a lot the dethrone the current best Manuel Neuer but De Gea is certainly up there.

With over a 100 plus caps for Manchester United he is grown stronger in each game and his saving percentage season after season has also gradually improved. 75% this season which is pretty impressive. His performances this season week in week out have definitely been man of the match performances. He single handedly has ensured with his match winning saves that Manchester United get the three points. With out De Gea's saves Manchester United would not be in that position in the League. His Performances have certainly been noticed by big clubs like Real Madrid who are planning to make an audacious bid of somewhere around like 50 million which would make him the World Costliest goalkeeper . His match winning performances has been appreciated by current top goalkeepers, his team mates , former players and football pundits.

 

Like Harry Kane this season, David De Gea is definitely is not going through a purple patch it is much more than that, it's consistent in quality displays. The Confidence in him this season has certainly been a major factor in his stunning performances this season. And at only 24 years of age he certainly has a lot more footballing years left in him, and the future looks bright for this promising shot stopper.

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