The Manchester United Thread

[Raikan007]

Rooney will drop down into the centre of midfield before the end of the year, mark my words! Scholes is getting old and grumpy and is attacking players just for fun now (maybe going a bit senile) and Fergie wont buy anyone in the Winter window...

De Gea

Rafael---Vidic---Ferdinand---Buttner

Fletcher

Cleverley---Carrick

Rooney

RVP---Hernandez
​

we just need to sort out our defence, going forward we look pretty good, still only in 3rd gear though I feel, however, the defence is shocking and we need Jones/Vidic and Smalling back ASAP!

The problem with the defence is De Gea!

Defenders are not confident when they have a keeper like De Gea behind them! De Gea's control of his area is shocking and that puts the players under pressure, having a keeper like De Gea creates problems where there should not be! He is a great shot stopper, no doubt, but he is **** everywhere else.. I as a keeper have given him the benefit of the doubt etc.. but now its time for him to grow a pair and state his claim and work on this command and his ability to control his area...

Lindergaard is a lot better at that and you can see the defence are a lot more relaxed when on the ball as they know that behind them is someone they have faith in and can count on!

Without that we are going to struggle and I hope Fergie see's this and honestly starts to play Lindergaard as United's #1 even when he should not be the #1 keeper for a club as big as ours.. De Gea was meant to do that but honestly, I cannot see him stating his claim and replacing Van Der Saar nor becoming the new Schmeical! I would rather have Barthez back in goals over De Gea to be honest (I loved him though but a lot of fans hated him) thats how bad I think De Gea is making the team! he makes everyone look bad in defence

Rant over

​

 

[sunilvk7]

Rooney will drop down into the centre of midfield before the end of the year, mark my words! Scholes is getting old and grumpy and is attacking players just for fun now (maybe going a bit senile) and Fergie wont buy anyone in the Winter window...

De Gea

Rafael---Vidic---Ferdinand---Buttner

Fletcher

Cleverley---Carrick

Rooney

RVP---Hernandez
​

we just need to sort out our defence, going forward we look pretty good, still only in 3rd gear though I feel, however, the defence is shocking and we need Jones/Vidic and Smalling back ASAP!

The problem with the defence is De Gea!

Defenders are not confident when they have a keeper like De Gea behind them! De Gea's control of his area is shocking and that puts the players under pressure, having a keeper like De Gea creates problems where there should not be! He is a great shot stopper, no doubt, but he is **** everywhere else.. I as a keeper have given him the benefit of the doubt etc.. but now its time for him to grow a pair and state his claim and work on this command and his ability to control his area...

Lindergaard is a lot better at that and you can see the defence are a lot more relaxed when on the ball as they know that behind them is someone they have faith in and can count on!

Without that we are going to struggle and I hope Fergie see's this and honestly starts to play Lindergaard as United's #1 even when he should not be the #1 keeper for a club as big as ours.. De Gea was meant to do that but honestly, I cannot see him stating his claim and replacing Van Der Saar nor becoming the new Schmeical! I would rather have Barthez back in goals over De Gea to be honest (I loved him though but a lot of fans hated him) thats how bad I think De Gea is making the team! he makes everyone look bad in defence

Rant over

​

​

Swap Fletcher and Carrick Position. That's how we used to play against Arsenal. Carrick in the holding role and Fletcher as destroyer. Carrick's positional sense is much better than Fletcher.

Also completely disagree about De Gea and Lindegaard points. I haven't seen even a single moment where it made me to think Lindegaard is better at commanding his area. Is there any youtube clip showing Lindegaard catching the ball when few players attacked the ball? Tbh I haven't seen any. He can't save the goals that De Gea can. He made few rash decisions like coming out and losing the ball against Ba (Which was his only Mistake as agaisnt Fulham it was Vidic's mistake and then Petric elbowed De Gea).

Lindegaard can't make stunning saves, if Lindegaard was our GK against Everton and Fulham we would have lsot by bigger margin. You can question De Gea's ability to handle the aerial balls (which he is better than Lindegaard anyways) but apart from it, his shot stopping, distribution everything is class whereas for Lindegaard there is not even a single area where we can say he is class. His distribution is **** poor, can't make stops like De Gea can and I have not seen him commanding which is the stick used to beat De Gea.

Against Spurs Bale's goal was savable, Lindegaard was beaten so easily and the 3rd goal was surely his fault. He pushed it directly to the path of Dempsey.

Not sure who is the "lot of fans" who hated him, if I'm not wrong many ManUtd supporters absolutely love him and want him as out #1 as with run of games he is completely different player as proved last season.

It's laughable to blame De Gea for our **** defense when it is clear that we can't defend as a team. If anything De Gea makes our defense looks half good. To add insult to the injury he never had settled back 4 infront of him which IMO is the biggest problem.

Lindegaard is good back up keeper and nothing more. A very good back up keeper.

 

[sunilvk7]

De Gea Vs Rival GKs.

Signed for a British record fee for a goalkeeper at around £17 million, David de Gea joined Manchester United last season with an enviable reputation.He helped Athletico Madrid win both the UEFA Europa League 2009-2010 and the UEFA Super Cup in 2010 and before that, won Spain’s U17 2007 European Championship and finished second at the subsequent 2007 World Cup.

He also played in the Spain U21 team that won the 2011 European Championship and is currently captain of Spain U21 side.He has won more trophies than some established EPL goalkeepers have won in their entire careers and is already worth much more than them financial-wise. Not a bad reputation for someone who is only turning 22 this year.It is only natural to assume he has developed a winning mentality, having tasted success at such a young age. All he had to do was acclimatize himself to the rigours of the Premier League, and he would be on the road to become a more-than-worthy goalkeeper for United.Herein lies the problem.

David de Gea – Good enough to be United's first choice keeper?

​

David De Gea himself admitted he found it tough to adapt to life on and off the pitch following his move to Manchester United last summer.

“It’s more aggressive, more physical. It’s far, far harder. The ball is in the air more and you get pushed about. And the referees don’t blow for anything!”


​

At a tall 190cm in height and a mere 77 kilos in weight, he was judged to be too light for his frame and could have problems with the more physical style of play from the Premier League teams.He was judged to be at fault for his first game against West Brom when Shane Long’s tame shot crept under his arms. United, however, won that match 2-1.There is no denying he is a good shot stopper, with a highlight being his save in the 3-1 home victory against Chelsea, against Ramires’ shot after scrambling across the goal to block the shot.The key here, however, is consistency. The consequences of making mistakes for a goalkeeper are graver than mistakes from outfield players. You would have noticed how he was struggling to catch aerial balls, especially being under pressure with bodies in his way.He got away with a few mild mis-timed catches early in the season, but essentially, he cost United at least a point in their 3-2 defeat of Blackburn at old Trafford. That was the last straw for Sir Alex Ferguson, and he was dropped immediately for the next game and replaced by Anders Lindegaard.There’s no denying that Lindegaard has been pretty impressive in goal. He was solid, reliable and deservedly got a number of clean sheets under his belt. But the key factor is that Lindegaard’s 5 clean sheets last season all came against weaker teams – Norwich, Sunderland, Aston Villa, Fulham and Wigan.

On the other hand, he conceded 3 against arguably the toughest team he had faced so far – Newcastle (United lost 0-3 to them at The Sports Direct Arena that night).Despite this, de Gea returned to starting lineup after an unfortunate injury to Lindegaard, and he hasn’t looked back since.De Gea came back into the starting lineup with a point to prove, making impressive and important saves for United time and again. He pinpointed the key moment that turned around his début season with United being his save from Juan Mata’s free kick that was heading for the top corner in the 3-3 draw at Chelsea. He also had one of his best performances in the 2-3 defeat to Athletic Bilbao at Old Trafford in the Europa Cup Quarter Final.To see how well David de Gea fared with other goalkeepers in the Premier League last season, let’s have a look at the statistics of goalkeepers from the teams that finished in the top 4:

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It is easy to reason that the statistics might not tell the whole story, especially because he’s played 9 fewer games than the other 3 keepers. It is also wise to qualify that some of these statistics such as number of clean sheets are based on the team’s defences as well and not only on the goalkeeping performances. But for the sake of goalkeeping comparison, let us forgo this defence rationale for a bit.David de Gea might have the lowest number of clean sheets among the 4, but he is top in percentage of clean sheets, where he does not concede a goal in 44.8% of the matches he has played in. Another eye-catching statistic would be his 102 saves, which (considering the number of games he played) is relatively high than the other goalkeepers. In fact, de Gea finished the season with best saves-to-shots ratio in the Premier League!As mentioned earlier, a common criticism of David de Gea early in the season is his proneness at making mistakes. The statistic showing his high cross catches proves this point.

Here, we can see he catches a mere 27 crosses in 29 games and he missed 4 crosses he was supposed to catch.However, it might surprise some to note that he has the highest percentage of ground 50-50 wins, where he is successful in 91% of his 50-50 challenges, and he made 2 interceptions, when the other goalkeepers did not make any at all. Furthermore, he did not lose any possession whenever he is with the ball. This goes to show how some of his criticisms about being very error prone can be rather unjustified.Another statistic I would like to bring up would be his supposed infamous reputation of not being as adept with long-range shots from opponents. Based on his statistics, of the 29 goals he conceded, only 4 of the goals were conceded from outside the penalty box. Doesn’t seem that much of a problem if you ask me.

De Gea has at least 2 decades of professional football left in him. He his nowhere close to the finished article.

​

So as you can see, David de Gea’s statistics definitely make him worthy of being in one the best teams in England and the world. He has fantastic distribution, his presence is growing in the team and he is surely getting used to the rigours of the Premier League.Interestingly, David de Gea says he has been taking inspiration from Tottenham’s Brad Friedel to help him get to grips with life as a Premier League keeper.

“He is excellent in one-on-one situations and also when faced with free-kicks. Watching him makes me want to play for United when I’m 40!”

​

What’s important now is the upcoming second season for de Gea, whether he can maintain the same level he did for United at the end of last season.My prediction is there would still be the odd wobbly moments. Mind you, he’s just a kid. Goalkeepers have far longer playing careers than outfield players, with most of them peaking when they’re way past 30 years of age.But there is no doubt he will be a success at United. My biggest fear is not whether he’ll be able to reach the levels of Schmeichel or Van der Sar, but whether he’ll stay at United when he does reach that level.

David de Gea

 

[Vanjagl]

Lindegaard can't make stunning saves ? Yea right:
[video=youtube;j6zyN0OYn8M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6zyN0OYn8M[/video]
Although I agree with Raikan about ability to control area, Andres is much better, but still, I would much rather have De Gea between post because he is amazing shot stopper.

 

[zzeezzy]

Rooney will drop down into the centre of midfield before the end of the year, mark my words! Scholes is getting old and grumpy and is attacking players just for fun now (maybe going a bit senile) and Fergie wont buy anyone in the Winter window...

De Gea

Rafael---Vidic---Ferdinand---Buttner

Fletcher

Cleverley---Carrick

Rooney

RVP---Hernandez
​

we just need to sort out our defence, going forward we look pretty good, still only in 3rd gear though I feel, however, the defence is shocking and we need Jones/Vidic and Smalling back ASAP!

The problem with the defence is De Gea!

Defenders are not confident when they have a keeper like De Gea behind them! De Gea's control of his area is shocking and that puts the players under pressure, having a keeper like De Gea creates problems where there should not be! He is a great shot stopper, no doubt, but he is **** everywhere else.. I as a keeper have given him the benefit of the doubt etc.. but now its time for him to grow a pair and state his claim and work on this command and his ability to control his area...

Lindergaard is a lot better at that and you can see the defence are a lot more relaxed when on the ball as they know that behind them is someone they have faith in and can count on!

Without that we are going to struggle and I hope Fergie see's this and honestly starts to play Lindergaard as United's #1 even when he should not be the #1 keeper for a club as big as ours.. De Gea was meant to do that but honestly, I cannot see him stating his claim and replacing Van Der Saar nor becoming the new Schmeical! I would rather have Barthez back in goals over De Gea to be honest (I loved him though but a lot of fans hated him) thats how bad I think De Gea is making the team! he makes everyone look bad in defence

Rant over

​

Blaming De Gea for defensive lapses (such as last night for example) is absolutely ludicrous man. De Gea is going to be a great goalkeeper, he has come from Spain and is adapting slowly to the English game, his shot stopping is second to none and his handling will come in time. De Gea has the makings of a truely great GK, this is his second season only.

You can't blame De Gea for defensive mistakes though, totally disagree with that.

 

[Mike.]

Lindegaard can't make stunning saves ? Yea right:
[video=youtube;j6zyN0OYn8M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6zyN0OYn8M[/video]
Although I agree with Raikan about ability to control area, Andres is much better, but still, I would much rather have De Gea between post because he is amazing shot stopper.

If we are talking youtube, you could find a dozen top saves from De Gea this season alone.

Lindegaard is as good as he will get. De Gea has far more potential. Lindegaard simply isnt as good a shot stopper, or distributor, and is not massively better in the air

 

[Vanjagl]

Spot on. Overall, De Gea is better than Lindegaard. Only area where Lindegaard could be more useful ( at the moment) is against big, strong strikers due his better communication with defenders. What bugs me about De Gea is that he's silent for most of the time, even when CD make a mistake, he'll just clap his hands and that's it. Remeber how Van Der Saar yelled at Vidic and Rio ? But to be fair, he's still 21, it's awkward to yell at someone who's 34 and 31 respectively.

 

[sunilvk7]

Lol, all regualr saves. The save De Gea pulled of Ramires/Mata that I would call as stunning save, not these 10. Also none for ManUtd in this video and tbh none are stunning anyways. Everything you expect your GK to save.

If anything his save against Benfica in CL away tops all of the top 10 saves.

 

[Vanjagl]

Lol, all regualr saves. The save De Gea pulled of Ramires/Mata that I would call as stunning save, not these 10. Also none for ManUtd in this video and tbh none are stunning anyways. Everything you expect your GK to save.

If anything his save against Benfica in CL away tops all of the top 10 saves.

Yet again you failed to understand the point. Why am I not surprised

 

[Dunc]

Lindegaard can't make stunning saves ? Yea right:
[video=youtube;j6zyN0OYn8M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6zyN0OYn8M[/video]
Although I agree with Raikan about ability to control area, Andres is much better, but still, I would much rather have De Gea between post because he is amazing shot stopper.

Have you actually watched that video?

There are probably 2 'Superb' saves in that video.

Penalty save he was nearly at the edge of the 6 yard box when he saved it.

Most of the long range shots are no where near the corners and appear to be at an easy height for goalkeepers.

Number 9 of his 'top 10 saves' is a save most goalkeepers should be making if they **** the first save up like he did..

A pretty ***** compilation of his best saves, unless those are actually his best saves, and if that's the case, then it appears he doesn't make stunning saves.

 

[sunilvk7]

Yet again you failed to understand the point. Why am I not surprised

Is this the new way of saying "I don't have a ******* point"?

I said Lindegaard can't make stunning saves, you said he can and posted a lolworthy video with regular saves. Excuse me for missing the amazing point, please let me know the point of your post then?

 

[Raikan007]

[/CENTER]

Not sure who is the "lot of fans" who hated him, if I'm not wrong many ManUtd supporters absolutely love him and want him as out #1 as with run of games he is completely different player as proved last season.

It's laughable to blame De Gea for our **** defense when it is clear that we can't defend as a team. If anything De Gea makes our defense looks half good. To add insult to the injury he never had settled back 4 infront of him which IMO is the biggest problem.

Lindegaard is good back up keeper and nothing more. A very good back up keeper.

1) I know quite a few who hated him
2) it's not laughable, its my opinion and I stand by it, De Gea puts our players under pressure when the ball gets delivered in the box!

If you actually watch the defenders reactions when the ball is delivered you will see the difference between the two!

I am not saying David is a **** keeper, we all know he is pure quality and has bags of potential, no doubt... he just needs to work on his game and until that happens I feel that Anders will be a better choice for the interim.. I think Fergie actually prefers Anders to David at the moment!

 

[sunilvk7]

Have you actually watched that video?

There are probably 2 'Superb' saves in that video.

Penalty save he was nearly at the edge of the 6 yard box when he saved it.

Most of the long range shots are no where near the corners and appear to be at an easy height for goalkeepers.

Number 9 of his 'top 10 saves' is a save most goalkeepers should be making if they **** the first save up like he did..

A pretty ***** compilation of his best saves, unless those are actually his best saves, and if that's the case, then it appears he doesn't make stunning saves.

Probably Dunc will commit suicide when I say I completely agree with him and exactly what I posted about the video. Those are all regular saves you expect any half decent keeper to make.

 

[sunilvk7]

If we are talking youtube, you could find a dozen top saves from De Gea this season alone.

Lindegaard is as good as he will get. De Gea has far more potential. Lindegaard simply isnt as good a shot stopper, or distributor, and is not massively better in the air

Spot on. He isn't better at anything than De Gea, many say better in air which is expected because of his size but can someone tell me the game where he showed his aerial ability? Tbh I don't remember any game.

 

[LILCON2K10]

1) I know quite a few who hated him
2) it's not laughable, its my opinion and I stand by it, De Gea puts our players under pressure when the ball gets delivered in the box!

If you actually watch the defenders reactions when the ball is delivered you will see the difference between the two!

I am not saying David is a **** keeper, we all know he is pure quality and has bags of potential, no doubt... he just needs to work on his game and until that happens I feel that Anders will be a better choice for the interim.. I think Fergie actually prefers Anders to David at the moment!

We will soon see who he prefers once we play Chelsea at the weekend, personally I think De Gea will start in goal, who ever he picks he must surely think is the better keep as ferguson will want his best goal keeper in for that game.

 

[zzeezzy]

1) I know quite a few who hated him
2) it's not laughable, its my opinion and I stand by it, De Gea puts our players under pressure when the ball gets delivered in the box!

If you actually watch the defenders reactions when the ball is delivered you will see the difference between the two!

I am not saying David is a **** keeper, we all know he is pure quality and has bags of potential, no doubt... he just needs to work on his game and until that happens I feel that Anders will be a better choice for the interim.. I think Fergie actually prefers Anders to David at the moment!

What do you think of Gundogan to United rumours? A few not hugely reliable sources are building up claiming we are looking at him and thinking about making a move possibly in the summer.

Personally i REALLY hope this is true, it would finally be a top CM bought, although he can play in the CDM as well as he shown against Manchester City alongside Bender. Some of his passes against City were just sublime! No doubt the next BIG thing in midfield. He looks a class player and someone i think would fit in well at United.

 

[sunilvk7]

1) I know quite a few who hated him
2) it's not laughable, its my opinion and I stand by it, De Gea puts our players under pressure when the ball gets delivered in the box!

If you actually watch the defenders reactions when the ball is delivered you will see the difference between the two!

I am not saying David is a **** keeper, we all know he is pure quality and has bags of potential, no doubt... he just needs to work on his game and until that happens I feel that Anders will be a better choice for the interim.. I think Fergie actually prefers Anders to David at the moment!

I agree that De Gea should work on his game and improve commanding his area but even then he is better GK than Lindegaard as Lindegaard isn't better.

With De Gea our CBs were Rio, Evans, Carrick who can be easily bullied and they are not great heading the ball. If we had Vidic you would have seen defenders reacting in different way when the ball is crossed to the box.

For ex, Yesterday's first goal, if it was Vidic he would have attacked the ball but our CBs and FBs were ball watching.

There isn't a GK who is comfortable at collecting crosses. Casillas is very average at it, for all thehype Joe Hart makes mistakes too. Neuer is amazing though apart from him I dont know which GK can attack the ball like Great Dane.

 

[Raikan007]

We will soon see who he prefers once we play Chelsea at the weekend, personally I think De Gea will start in goal, who ever he picks he must surely think is the better keep as ferguson will want his best goal keeper in for that game.

Anders is out unfortunately sore thumb

 

[Raikan007]

What do you think of Gundogan to United rumours? A few not hugely reliable sources are building up claiming we are looking at him and thinking about making a move possibly in the summer.

Personally i REALLY hope this is true, it would finally be a top CM bought, although he can play in the CDM as well as he shown against Manchester City alongside Bender. Some of his passes against City were just sublime! No doubt the next BIG thing in midfield. He looks a class player and someone i think would fit in well at United.

that would be a great signing would love to see him play for United.. I was hoping we would get Sahin from Borussia as he was quality as well.. he of course then went to Real and now is on loan at Pool

I hope we get Ilkay immediately! similar players however I think Ilkay is in a better position than Sahin and in fact is a better (potentially) than Nuri!

He would work great in the midfield..

 

[Raikan007]

I agree that De Gea should work on his game and improve commanding his area but even then he is better GK than Lindegaard as Lindegaard isn't better.

With De Gea our CBs were Rio, Evans, Carrick who can be easily bullied and they are not great heading the ball. If we had Vidic you would have seen defenders reacting in different way when the ball is crossed to the box.

For ex, Yesterday's first goal, if it was Vidic he would have attacked the ball but our CBs and FBs were ball watching.

There isn't a GK who is comfortable at collecting crosses. Casillas is very average at it, for all thehype Joe Hart makes mistakes too. Neuer is amazing though apart from him I dont know which GK can attack the ball like Great Dane.

yes yes, David is better than Anders.. no doubt, just for right NOW with the ****** defence we have that is always changing, we need someone with a bit more control and command of the area to try and bridge the gap, something that David cannot do RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT..

yeah I agree with that mate keepers have been pampered and have in fact become worse players because of this and as soon as they get touched they drop and its a free kick, even when they completely miss the ball!

Neuer is one of the best keepers in the world alongside Buffon at the moment! Buffon still makes mistakes as well though.. no keeper is the full package anymore...