Erik ten Hag needs to send a strong message to Manchester United No 1 David de Gea
Manchester United crashing out of the Europa League against Sevilla was disappointing, but the club still continuing with that mistake sounds even more incredulous.
Thursday’s result at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium was yet another reminder to manager Erik ten Hag that David de Gea is a major problem.
As pointed out by Squawka, the Spanish goalkeeper has made five errors which have led to a goal across all competitions, the most for any Premier League player since the start of last season.
David De Dea’s errors cost United big time
Sevilla’s goals came from the three big weaknesses of the Spaniard. The first one saw him fail to pick the right pass as United tried to play out from the back.
The second was caused due to his reluctance to come off his line and claim crosses while the third was when he erred while trying to sweep.
A modern goalie must have these three qualities and the United No 1 sadly lacks them all.
He also lacks big-match temperament and has cost the Red Devils in the Champions League, FA Cup and Europa League before.
In fact, the last time the Reds won this competition, it was Sergio Romero in goal and not the former Atletico Madrid man.
Just yesterday, the Dutch boss praised the Spain international and this is how he repaid his manager.
On the night, the 32-year-old failed to find a teammate on 20 per cent of the occasions while also making 0 high claims in the box.
United need to replace David De Dea
De Gea rejected United’s first contract offer for being too low and even if the club tries to protect his value, Ten Hag needs to look elsewhere for answers.
Ten Hag will once again try and publicly defend his No 1 but it should be very clear where his transfer priorities lie in the summer.
A new goalkeeper is of equal importance as the striker that the Red Devils are eyeing.
Fans will be left asking how much worse can the on-loan Jack Butland be than De Gea. Ten Hag needs to send a strong message immediately, and Sunday’s FA Cup semifinal could be the chance.
