Former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van Der Sar has said that David de Gea has no option but to play himself into the Manchester United first team. The former Athletico Madrid goalkeeper arrived in an £18 million deal from Spain, but has struggled a lot in order to become the first choice goalkeeper who will be considered as a worthy replacement for the Dutchman.
Edwin van Der Sar announced his retirement following the end of last season. Lindegaard managed to get into the first-team on a regular basis due to the poor form shown by de Gea, but Lindegaard’s injury in the second half of the season has given de Gea a regular run out.
The regular first-team appearances seems to have instilled a lot of confidence in the player. As a result, it has been a good into the season for the Spaniard. Still, Edwin van Der Sar believes that he has to go for long way before convincing Sir Alex Ferguson that he is the right man for the job. In order to do so, Edwin van Der Sar believes that de Gea has no option but to play regularly in the big matches. The 21-year-old goalkeeper was once again at fault in the Manchester derby.
“Maybe it was hard to follow in my footsteps. It can happen. People got compared to Peter Schmeichel, now maybe it’s me. De Gea has to ignore that and just play his own game. Eric Steele, the goalkeeping coach, and the manager will both help him and hopefully next season he will be ready from the start. He did get criticism last season but I made mistakes at Ajax when I was young, and also at Juventus and United,” said Van der Sar when speaking about the troubles faced by de Gea.