The former Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van Der Sar has said that he thinks that the Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea will eventually come good. The Spaniard has come under intense criticism at the club after a poor first season.
Van Der Sar was regarded as one of the best goalkeepers that the club had after Peter Schmeichel. It has to be said that de Gea has failed to live up to the expectations in his first season because he was consistently overshadowed by the Dane Lindegaard. He had arrived from the Spanish club Atletico Madrid for a huge fee of £ 18 million.
Van der Sar, who recently retired from professional football, has said that he expects David de Gea to be a good goalkeeper for United in the years to come because he still has a lot of football ahead of him. Van der Sar has said that it is extremely difficult for a goalkeeper to be able to fight off consistent competition. David de Gea has been consistently competed for the first-team in the den goalkeeper Lindegaard. Ferguson has also not chosen in the goalkeeper as his first choice because both have been rotated on a consistent basis.
“I think it’s tight at the moment between David de Gea and number two Anders Lindegaard. In their first year (in 2011/12) and even in the first half of this year also, (Alex) Ferguson has changed his goalkeepers. Sometimes de Gea plays up to five or six games then Anders has a chance. I don’t think he (Ferguson) was really ready to name his number one but I think they’re both doing a great job,” said Edwin van Der Sar. He has also recalled how he came to the club at 34 years of age, but went on to have six great years at the club.