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| David De Gea, Like A Boss! Anfield October 15, 2011, Liverpool, England |
Aren’t bittersweet moments strange?
Well, you tell me! The 19th Premier League title was won by Manchester
United. In the aftermath of those joyous scenes, Edwin van der Sar and Paul
Scholes decided to call it a day. Two legends in their respective positions on
a football pitch. Anyone who believed that United wouldn’t miss these two
legends can easily be classified as a fool. Yes, I’ll be quite blunt when I say
that. Then again, with Sir Alex at the helm, it was expected that he’d know
exactly who to sign as a replacement for these two greats of football.
Tom Cleverley was an expected call up,
the youngster was proving himself for the past two seasons at Watford and
Wigan. There was much deliberation whether or not Wesley Sneijder would join
the club and this continued right till the final day of the transfer period.
Instead in came teenager Phil Jones from Blackburn (who I might add has
impressed me greatly) and winger Ashley Young from Aston Villa. But this article is not about a replacement
for Paul Scholes, it’s about a replacement in my own position on a football
pitch – the goalkeeper. I’ve said it often and I’ll say it again, but a
goalkeeper is the most underrated player in almost any football team. Critics
say all he does is stands and watches while midfielder and wingers especially
cover as much as eleven kilometres in a single game. True, goalkeepers barely
cover five kilometres on a football pitch (most of it is walking around their
own goal line to stay focussed), but underrating them isn’t exactly fair. George
Graham said that "The goalkeeper is the jewel in the crown and getting at him should be almost impossible. It's the biggest sin in football to make him do any work." And
boy I will tell you that he is absolutely correct. For I’ve seen when a goal is
conceded it’s the goalkeeper who gets blamed. This I can say from personal
experience. But when he makes a top class save, nothing!
Moving to van der Sar’s replacement,
there was much talk about Manuel Neuer and his ongoing saga with Schalke and
Bayern Munich. Evidently, he was on his way to Bayern, which is what almost what
every German player wants to do. Sir Alex, after having failed to lure the
German to Old Trafford, turned his head to a young Spaniard - David De Gea,
sparking a widespread disgust amongst many United and ‘ManU’ fans. Would he be
the man to fill the Dutchman’s legendary boots? Would he be able to match
Fergie’s bargain of the century Peter Schmeichel?
In his early United days, De Gea took
a lot of stick. Some of you’ll reading this article will have criticized the
twenty year olds performances calling him scared, calling him a waste of money.
Yet Fergie was adamant that he made the right move. A superb penalty save off Robin van Persie in
the Arsenal rout won some fans and after the Chelsea game
many of De Gea’s critics were silenced! He put in a solid performance which
handed United the match, and a very welcome three points against a title rival.
Twenty year old? What twenty year old? The hypocrites were quickly singing De
Gea’s praises.
Weeks
passed and on came Liverpool at Anfield. United hadn’t won there in three
years. Liverpool was looking to end United’s unbeaten start to the season. Up
stepped Steven Gerrard and boy it was great to see him in action, even though
it was for those Scousers as many a United fan would put it. Gerrard scored,
Hernandez equalized, which brought on a fascinating final ten minutes. Who better
to deny Liverpool a win than David De Gea? The United custodian pulled off a
number of vital acrobatic saves which kept the score level and ultimately it
was he who preserved United’s unbeaten status. Jordan Henderson was
flabbergasted, Luis Suarez and Dirk Kuyt left stunned as they all thought that
they had scored but there was De Gea flying in bring back memories of the Great
Dane and the Flying Dutchman.
To
quote Phil McNulty of the BBC football blog: "Ferguson was largely indebted to young keeper David De Gea, who had had his critics this season but made crucial saves to keep United in contention as they came under concerted pressure in the closing stages.......... Charlie Adam's shot deflected invitingly into the Uruguyan's (Suarez) path, but, after cleverly wrong-footing Jonny Evans, he was thwarted by De Gea's block........ De Gea was United's hero again within seconds of Hernandez's equaliser, diving to his left to claw away Dirk Kuyt's shot as he got on the end of a superb cross from Stewart Downing."
David De Gea has surely grown in
stature as a United goalkeeper. One has to remember that the Premier League is
a lot more physical than the La Liga which in my opinion is a sad excuse of a
league that generally has two winners only. Given his age, it was expected that
De Gea would take time to adapt to a new club, a club like Manchester United.
And adapt he has. Move over De Gea critics, the young Spaniard is here to stay!
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| David De Gea |
Photo Credits: http://www.zimbio.com/photos/David+de+Gea/Liverpool+v+Manchester+United+Premier+League/bbdPKMJTBts (Liverpool Save)
Text: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/15225853.stm (BBC Sport Blog)
"Like A Boss" Caption Credit: Ruhin Chatterjee
"Like A Boss" Caption Credit: Ruhin Chatterjee
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