De Gea: I'm Still First Choice

Since joining Manchester United, David de Gea has been under an incredible amount of pressure to perform, with every mistake scrutinised. Whilst other goalkeepers, like Joe Hart or Pepe Reina, have been guilty of several mistakes too, they tend to be brushed under the carpet. It’s the popular thing to do to have a go at De Gea.

This was taken to another level on Monday when Gary Neville went in to great depth looking at Spurs’ late equaliser. Whilst De Gea certainly has to take some of the blame for not doing enough to make sure he punched the ball well clear, he wasn’t the only one at fault. Rafael’s poor positioning allowed the cross to be delivered in the first place, whilst it was Nemanja Vidic who was blocking the goalie from making clean contact with the ball. Had Vidic not been in the way, De Gea could have dealt with the cross far more easily. Still, Neville opted not to mention these factors, and instead showed and slow motion replay of the “look” Vidic gave De Gea after the goal.

Both Andy Cole and Michael Owen, amongst others, took to Twitter to voice their opinion that the criticism was too harsh, which Javier Hernandez endorsed.

Whilst no one is arguing that De Gea shouldn’t be criticised when he makes a mistake, the levels it gets to now are out of control. Spurs could and should have scored two or three goals on Sunday and would have done if not for De Gea’s exceptional saves, but they are all forgotten.

With every man and his dog giving their opinion on De Gea’s situation at the moment, our Spanish keeper has spoken out on his feelings on his position in the squad.

“From the moment I signed I considered myself the first-choice keeper at the club but it’s down to the manager,” De Gea told the Daily Mirror. “He rotates us when he feels it’s good for the team. But obviously I’ve played a few on the bounce now and that’s positive. For a goalkeeper it’s always important to have consistency and to be playing regularly. It’s good for confidence and morale.”