De Gea has his strengths but playing the ball out from the back, which his manager demands, is not one of themDavid de Gea: it has been evident for some time that, while gifted in some respects, he lacks the all-round game of today’s best goalkeepers.
Replacing the popular Hart was a risk for Guardiola. He had been England’s number one for six years and hardly anybody had been questioning his place in the City team. With just four touches, three Brentford players moved the ball 100 metres forward in nine seconds: the counterattack would have outpaced Usain Bolt. Sometimes you have to hold your hands up.The third was a set-piece and Brentford are good at set pieces: last season only Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal scored more goals from dead balls.
Undoubtedly, the second goal was the most galling. It virtually killed the game as a contest after just 18 minutes, and the disaster was entirely self-inflicted. United had the ball under their control and seconds later it was in their net, as De Gea mindlessly followed his pre-match instructions to play out with short passes, ignoring the warning lights flashing in his face.
This is not a snap judgment made after one poor performance. The numbers have been clear for a long time. De Gea remains a decent shot-stopper, particularly with his legs, and while his overall save percentage is around the league average over the past two seasons, he has always been capable of occasional inspired performances.
When he kicked it long he found a team-mate only about a third of the time. Ederson and Alisson, the standard-setters in the division, reach team-mates with more than half of their long passes.
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