David De Gea defends his position at Manchester United

Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea has defended his position at the Old Trafford club after a season which has seen him make a number of high-profile mistakes, costing United at times. The 29-year-old has come under pressure this season, especially after his calamitous performance against Chelsea in the Emirates FA Cup semi-final, the second of three semi-finals in cup competitions this season that United lost in. On Sunday, De Gea replaced Sergio Romero against Sevilla.

The Argentinian goalkeeper has played in the last two UEFA Europa League matches at this stage of the season with United looking to win their first trophy under the management of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. A 2-1 defeat stopped that from happening, meaning that Sevilla set up a final against Inter Milan after the Italian side beat Shakhtar Donekst 5-0 in the other semi-final in the competition. Speaking after United’s defeat to Sevilla on Sunday evening, De Gea was quoted by The Sun as saying:

“I trust in myself. I have shown my qualities all the years. So I will just stay available for the manager.

“I’m always ready to play and try to help the team, as I have always done.”

Dean Henderson, 23, has been tipped to replace De Gea at United this summer after his performances for Sheffield United whilst on loan at the club over the past two seasons, playing in the Champions and winning promotion to the Premier League, helping the side remain in the top flight of English football. Henderson wants assurances from Solskjaer over his future at the club or he will leave, whether on loan or permanently, which has been reported recently.

United may look back and see a poor season but despite the fact that it has not been brilliant, there are many positives to see at the club. There are critics for Solskjaer on social media, but with not of those critics having any experience or achievement in football, the criticism is agenda based which shows the pathetic nature of modern football so-called supporters. Continuing to speak about United’s result against Sevilla, De Gea was quoted as saying:

“We deserve to be in the final, if we are honest. But maybe we need a bit of experience, more experience on the team, but we have to score the chances. That was the point for us.”

Whilst there was improvement by United this season, conceding 54 goals in the Premier League during the 2018/19 season and finishing sixth, then last summer, signing Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire, to conceding just 36 goals and finishing third in the 2019/20 season. Of course, most of these so-called fans that demand better will not see the improvement, instead will look at the points total, which was 66 points in both seasons. However, the difference is clear to see, for those with common sense anyway.

United also came from 14 points behind Leicester to finish four points clear of them this season with Solskjaer even topping Frank Lampard, who has continually been praised by the English media having a much poorer record that United despite both teams being in a period of rebuilding. United’s record against the top six in the Premier League improved with the club doing the double over Manchester City, Chelsea and Leicester, winning once and drawing once with Tottenham Hotspur and drawing and losing against Liverpool, earning 23 points from a possible 30. Talking about the clubs improvement, De Gea said:

“I think we improved this season. We were 14 points behind the third position in the Premier League and we finished third at the end.

“I think we are playing very good football, attacking football.

“Let’s keep improving, let’s keep fighting for this club and let’s try to win trophies next season.”

Written by John Walker

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I support Manchester United, the greatest English football team to have ever existed. Bruno Fernandes is the latest in a long line of players with great ability to play for the club. I idolised Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Eric Cantona growing up.