Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he will stick with error-prone
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea but with a Champions League place at
stake many are urging him to drop the Spaniard.
The 29-year-old’s blunders at Wembley on Sunday were a
hammer blow for in-form United, who went down 3-1 to Frank Lampard’s Chelsea in
the FA Cup semi-final.
De Gea allowed Olivier Giroud’s shot to trickle over the
line in the dying seconds of the first half and moments after the interval
Mason Mount’s shot evaded his weak attempted save.
The Times described his performance as a “horror
show”.
Solskjaer conceded De Gea should have saved Mount’s goal
but stood by the player, who recently surpassed Peter Schmeichel’s United
appearance record for an overseas player, excluding Irish footballers.
“Of course,” replied Solskjaer when asked
whether he would keep faith with his number one, with Wednesday’s Premier
League clash against West Ham next up.
“We have been unbeaten for 19 games and both (reserve
goalkeeper) Sergio (Romero) and David (De Gea) have played really well in that run.
“I can’t speak for his confidence but he is mentally
very strong.”
Outspoken United legend Roy Keane recently he was
“sick to death” of De Gea after the Spaniard failed to keep out
Steven Bergwijn’s shot at Tottenham and other commentators now insist he must
be taken out of the firing line.
“He’s unrecognisable from the ‘keeper who won (club)
four player of the year awards,” former United defender Phil Neville told
the BBC.
“A confident, assured David de Gea saves all three
goals. I would be worried, his inconsistency is costing United games.”
The experienced Romero is waiting in the wings, with two
Premier League games remaining and a tight battle for the final two Champions
League spots.
Solskjaer might rue omitting the Argentine at Wembley,
having started him in all the FA Cup ties before the semi-final.
Victory over West Ham on Wednesday would see United climb
above Leicester into the Champions League places.
Alan Shearer thinks it is time to hand the gloves to
English goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who has excelled while on loan from
Manchester United at Sheffield United.
The 23-year-old’s 13 clean sheets have played a pivotal
role in the Blades’ eye-catching return to the Premier League.
“I think you only bring Dean Henderson back to
Manchester United as the number one, or you keep him where he is to keep
gaining experience,” former England captain Shearer said on the BBC.
“I think that time has come.”
‘See a therapist’
Shearer’s enthusiasm for Henderson to be handed the gloves
contrasts with the warning words of United great Gary Neville.
“That’s a lonely old place out there to make a
mistake if you’re a Manchester United goalkeeper,” Neville said last month
in his role as a Sky pundit.
“With respect to Sheffield United, it’s very
different to make a mistake there.
“I’ve seen it before with players during my time —
Peter Schmeichel at the beginning and Edwin van der Sar at the end.
“In between that, there were real challenges for
goalkeepers.
“At times we had young goalkeepers who were talented
but found it very difficult to cope with the scrutiny, the levels of
concentration that are required.”
Former Chelsea and Ireland striker Tony Cascarino said De
Gea needed to see a therapist to pull himself out of his spiral of decline.
“I went through a period during my playing career
when I just could not score goals and it took me a while to realise that I
couldn’t fix it on the training ground,” he wrote in the Times.
“You may think that the problems are technical but
the truth is that you are only making the technical errors because of what is
happening in your head.
“That is what De Gea is going through at the
moment.”
