U-Turns and debacles - the story of the great 'Dave Saves'
David de Gea has enjoyed twelve years at Manchester United. It might have been more, but would have been less. A sudden U-turn has kept him at the club before but will see him leave the club now.
When Louis van Gaal took charge of Manchester United he was determined to rejuvenate the squad with the additions of technically astute, possession dominant (and possession reliant) footballers. His goalkeeper had been tasked to distribute the ball accurately over longer distances but was still, primarily, in the team to keep the ball out of the net. David de Gea made 91 Premier League saves in Van Gaal’s first season, as United finished fourth, and this was form which inspired Real to bring him back to Madrid. Well, nearly.
All was agreed. Manchester United fans were in panic and disarray as the world-class De Gea was kept out of the squad in the early weeks of the 2015/16 season; with his head absolutely turned by Real Madrid’s interest and the seemingly impending transfer. Van Gaal described the Spaniard as ‘not capable’ of playing, such was the extent of this. Sergio Romero, signed that summer, had kept goal in his absence - and despite keeping clean sheets against Tottenham, Aston Villa and Newcastle, this period became defined by a 2-1 loss to Swansea on 30th August, after which it seemed certain De Gea would seal his transfer on deadline day. That didn’t happen, obviously.
The fax machine. Two of the world’s elite footballing institutions saw their business fumbled by a fax machine. Something about that does feel very Glazer-era Manchester United, to say the least. But, thanks to that troublesome machinery being unable to send through the required documents for the transfer to be completed in time, De Gea ended up staying at Old Trafford beyond deadline day 2015. The deal dragged on until the final hours of the window because it was so complex. United would have received £29m from Madrid, in a deal sweetened by sending Keylor Navas - with whom personal terms had to be separately agreed - to Old Trafford, too. The Costa Rican had only been in Madrid for one mixed season following his 2014 World Cup heroics as a successor to Iker Casillas: like De Gea he ended up staying at Madrid considerably longer after this saga, as a mainstay in winning three Champions League titles in a row.
How about De Gea, how did he fare after this? Well, a historiographical approach would suggest that until around a year or two ago, most football fans treated his time at Old Trafford between 2016-2022 as a resounding success. Afterall, he did win the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award a further two times (he had already won it in 2013/14 and 2014/15) and was a close competitor on two of the occasions where he didn’t. He played a crucial role in winning the FA Cup in the season he nearly left, having signed a new four year deal after the Madrid transfer fell through, but did not feature in the knockout stages when United won the Europa League the following season. The best individual campaign for De Gea was certainly the 2017-18 season during which he had one of the highest save percentages in Europe as Manchester United overperformed their expected goals against by a mammoth 15.54, as per Understat. De Gea’s form fell off a cliff during and after the World Cup at the end of that campaign, and despite something of a resurgence in 2021/22, he’s never really looked back.
The problem with the resurgant 2021/22 season is that footballing consensus about the role of a goalkeeper has shifted. Whilst De Gea’s performance that season would classically be regarded as good, owing to a collection of fine saves to bail the team out - with United’s goal being peppered all year long - there is now more impetus on a goalkeeper’s distribution (where De Gea struggles) and proactivity (where De Gea struggles even more). Those were not features of his game which shone in that season. They’re not really features of his game at all. In the present day, De Gea’s performance since that U-turn with the fax machine is perhaps not viewed in as great esteem as it was at the time, owing to the changing parameters through which a goalkeeper is judged.
The reality is, De Gea was never proactive and his distribution was never good. But this simply did not matter much because the role of the goalkeeper was not as involved in recovering and maintaining possession as it is now. Well, if you asked Van Gaal himself, he might give you a different answer - with differences between him and De Gea cited as one of the reasons why he wished to return to Spain. Van Gaal would’ve liked De Gea to be more proficient on the ball and once publicly called upon his players to stop using him so much, but Van Gaal’s team were consistently saved by his goalkeeping heroics. Often, the lack of quality in United’s backline was blamed for the high workload that the goalkeeper was tasked with. However, further developments to the position, as ideally employed by Erik ten Hag, demand for the goalkeeper to relieve some of the work load on his defenders instead: both through offering a technical and reliable option in build up and by allowing defenders to stay high and aggressive rather than tracking back, due to the ‘keeper proactively sweeping in the space they leave. Football has changed, and it has left players like David de Gea behind - his great reflexes are not as valuable as before, and his feet are now needed to build attacks rather than to stop them at point blank range.
And this is the reason behind the second great U-turn of the De Gea story. Manchester United had agreed for a new contract extension on reduced terms with the Spaniard, which he signed, only for the club to pull the plug before signing it off themselves. Supposedly, the man who was consulted at the eleventh (or, really, twelfth) hour and chose not to extend De Gea’s deal was his manager, as per Chris Wheeler. Erik ten Hag has always had a technical goalkeeper in his previous teams as he regards it essential for effective build-up play. However, it is plausible that the manager values De Gea’s experience, whilst it being obvious that he is not the long term number one for United. This may be why a deal was offered to De Gea in the first place. Ten Hag does have the precarious task of assembling the second stage of his rebuild amidst a chaotic takeover and does have to be careful with spending, but Andre Onana of Inter (formally Ten Hag’s Ajax) is heavily linked with a transfer to replace De Gea at United. It could be the case that United withdrew the contract offer with the imminent signing of a new number one in mind, not expecting to be kept in the dark at this stage about the club’s finances. Alternatively, it is possible that the club expected a new goalkeeper to arrive in the form of a younger number two, but Ten Hag changed his mind after an error-ridden end to the season including howlers from De Gea when United lost the FA Cup final and were knocked out of the Europa League by Sevilla.
It is correct that Ten Hag should be given the final say on contracts, and it is obvious to most that it is indeed time to move on from De Gea with the changing state of goalkeeping in elite football, but the club made a mockery of this situation. A player should not be offered a contract, sign it, and then have it withdrawn, regardless of whether or not they have spent twelve years with the club. The easy solution here was to recognise that De Gea should have had no future at United - no offer should have been made and he could have left with a proper send-off against Fulham on the final day. It is important for United to get it right from here; sign an adequate replacement who fits the bill for Ten Hag and allow De Gea to walk, to pick up a final pay day and show his shot-stopping quality wherever he can.
The history of football would have run a different course had the fax machine worked as expected in 2015. There is no great intricacy to this butterfly effect - given how influential Manchester United and Madrid are within the world of football. Everything would have been different. And everything at United will be different when De Gea leaves following the U-turn over the proposed contract. It will be strange to see such an established piece of the furniture depart, but it is time for the club to adapt to the demands of the modern elite game and they know it.