Manchester United’s David de Gea says he is having the best feeling of his goalkeeping career despite stiff competition from 23-year-old English goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
Dean Henderson has returned to Manchester United from Sheffield United where he spent last season on a very productive season-long loan. The performance of the English youngster at Sheffield has given him the confidence that he could take over the number one jersey from David de Gea.
The Spanish goalkeeper has been having a couple of bad games especially last season as he conceded some unnecessary goals which cost Manchester United a lot of points. Still, the manager of the team, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is never ready to give up on the 29-year-old shot-stopper.
David de Gea is not also ready to give up on himself as he has insisted that he is still filled with confidence and very positive. He has even proven that confidence by saying that he is set to lead United to start winning titles that have eluded the club in recent years.
“I feel very, very well, very confident, very positive and that’s very important for me. Now it’s time to be back to winning ways and winning trophies, that’s the most important thing for us at the moment. Like I say I feel very, very good.
“It’s great to train every day here with the coaches and the goalkeepers. We always try to learn from each other and try to push altogether. It’s great. If you see the training it’s really good to see the goalkeepers together.
“It’s very important to have good feelings with the other goalkeepers and the goalkeeping coaches as well. It’s great. We are training like I say, very, very well – the whole department of ‘keepers.
“We need to be at this level every day and to show the players that the keepers are feeling 100 percent. Now like I said we have to go for trophies.”
David de Gea vs Dean Henderson
David de Gea started Manchester United’s first Premier League match against Crystal Palace this season. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing he could do as he allowed three goals to go past him.
While Dean Henderson tested action for Manchester United on September 22 against Luton Town in an EFL Cup. Unlike de Gea who conceded three goals on September 19, Henderson kept a clean sheet as United won the Championship side 0-3.
As of the time of publishing this report, De Gea was in goal for Manchester United against Brighton in the Premier League. If he is not able to keep a clean sheet again and if United fail to win the match, that could spell doom and limit his chances of continuing as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper.
In the 2019-2020 season, Henderson proved that he could be a great goalkeeper in Manchester United’s colors as he kept 13 clean sheets for Sheffield United. More so, he conceded only 33 goals, made 97 saves, and committed only one error that led to a goal in 36 matches.
On the other hand, David de Gea had a fair season too as he also kept 13 clean sheets but conceded 36 goals in 38 appearances. More so, the Spanish goalkeeper made 96 saves and committed 3 errors that led to goals before the season ended.
Hence, this season’s competition between the two goalkeepers will be more intense and closely monitored by both critics and fans. Any consistent slips from any of the two goalkeepers could do a lot of damage to their chances of surviving at the top of Solskjaer’s pegging order.
