Out of Play
How David De Gea went from 11st liability to the best goalkeeper in the world at Manchester United
It was one of the Premier League’s great goalkeeping performances. Save after save, each more impressive than the one that preceded it.
His performance against Arsenal on Saturday was unique, record-equalling, and cemented David De Gea’s spot as the world’s greatest goalkeeper.
Yes, Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer is excellent but the Manchester United No 1 is now better. The Spaniard’s reflexes are remarkable and his ability to stop the ball with his feet is unrivalled.
His journey to the top hasn’t been easy, however. Challenges have been overcome, his character tested. So we asked our friends at Football Whispers to reflect on the 27-year-old’s rise from a slight and inconsistent goalkeeper to the world’s best.
De Gea’s story is not rags to riches, it’s quite the opposite in fact. But it is one based around family and how the support of his parents enabled him to achieve the dream of many a young boy.
From an early age De Gea’s love for sport was evident. He would play basketball and tennis and was very good in both. But football was his passion and he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, Jose, a former goalkeeper for Getafe.
David De Gea factfile
- Born on November 7, 1990 in Madrid, Spain
- Joined Atletico Madrid as a 13-year-old – after his former coach Juan Luis Martin lied that Rayo Vallecano were interested
- Made his senior debut for the club at just 18
- Helped Atletico win the Europa League in 2010
- Moved to Manchester United for £18.9million in June 2011, a then-British record for a goalkeeper
- Has won the Premier League (2013), FA Cup (2016), League Cup and Europa League (both 2017)
- Three-time Manchester United fans’ player of the season
- Has been named in the Premier League team of the year four times
- Match of the Day save of the season winner from 2013 to 2016
- Has won 25 caps for Spain
His formative years, however, were spent as an outfield player. De Gea was tall and quick, while his agility and lightning quick reflexes meant he stood out among his team-mates. And yet he always wanted to be a goalkeeper.
In Jose, David had the perfect coach. His father would attempt to be at every game and every training session. He would then offer advice, guidance and, if required, criticism. It was all to ensure his son could achieve his dream.
As De Gea entered his teenage years, his story becomes a little unclear. There are stories which suggest that, at the age of 14, he was finally offered a chance to join the youth set-up of Atletico Madrid, the club he supported as a boy.
But a coach for Casarrubuelos Football School, a school in Madrid for which De Gea played, tells a different tale.
“We went to play a friendly at Cerro del Espino against the Cadet B of Atletico, who were trained by Emilio Garcia,” he said in an interview with Spanish newspaper AS.
“He always asked me: ‘Juanlu, do you have a goalkeeper for Atleti?’ I said: ‘Look no further, De Gea’. But the weeks passed and David’s father told me that they had put in an offer, so I had to lie to them.
“I had to squeeze them a little bit. I got in touch with Emilio and I said that either they do something or the boy would go to Rayo [Vallecano]. It was not true. But Ruso Diego, the former Atleti goalkeeper, saw David play half a game and that was enough. He was signed immediately. ”
De Gea would move away from the family home in Toledo, but his parents support didn’t wane. Jose wouldn’t just attend every youth game but would be at training – in wind, rain or snow – to watch the progress of his talented son.
His mum would call De Gea up to four times a week to check the precocious goalkeeper wasn’t neglecting his school work.
“She was always worried about the balance between my studies and sports,” the United goalkeeper later explained. “My parents would drive 50km a day just to come take a look at me at Atletico’s training ground in the plush area of Alarcon.”
Some teenagers may have found that overbearing, but De Gea didn’t. He appreciated the love and care he received and remains to this day incredibly close to both of his parents, who moved to England following the goalkeeper’s switch to United.
As De Gea progressed through the youth ranks at Atletico Madrid, his talent was becoming obvious to coaches and players alike. It’s why when Quique Sanchez Flores took over Atleti in October 2009, he asked goalkeeping coach Emilio Alvarez Blanco – who is now the goalkeeper coach at Old Trafford – who was the pick of the Colchoneros stoppers.
Without hesitation Alvarez name-checked De Gea, who is far-sighted, and means he wears contact lenses.
The 18-year-old had made his first-team debut a month earlier, replacing the experienced Roberto in a Champions League game against Porto, a match which Atleti lost 2-0 with De Gea conceding two late goals.
His La Liga debut would come three days later against Real Zaragoza, in which he conceded but saved a penalty in a 2-1 win. It was under Sanchez Flores, however, that De Gea established himself as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper.
There were mistakes, hardly unsurprising given his age, but the same qualities that define De Gea today stood out. By January 2010 the transfer rumours linking him with a move to Old Trafford began.
But he remained with Atleti and continued to impress over the next 18 months. There was a Uefa Super Cup win over Chelsea and as well as a Europa League title. By the summer of 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson’s mind was made up, he wanted De Gea to be the long-term successor to Edwin Van der Sar and made his move.
The fee raised a few eyebrows, £18.9million is not often spent on a goalkeeper with less than two years’ experience in a first team. And Sir Alex’s history when signing goalkeepers was far from perfect.
The 13-times winner was so convinced that De Gea was United’s future No 1 that the great Scottish manager missed a game to go and watch him play.
It was just one of two times Fergie missed a game… the other was for his son’s wedding.
He believed in De Gea and the Spain Under-21 international started the 2011/12 season as United’s No 1.
From the off there were doubters. His performance in the Community Shield, which United won 3-2 against Manchester City, drew criticism.
The following week, in his Premier League debut, De Gea allowed a Shane Long shot to slip past him. It was far from an isolated mistake. His first six months in English football were difficult as he adjusted to the rigours of the Premier League, living outside of Spain for the first time and learning a new language.
The 20-year-old, at times, looked like a deer in headlights, and Sir Alex, an excellent man-manager, took his young goalkeeper out of the limelight.
He was dropped in favour of Anders Lindegaard.
De Gea has since admitted he thought about quitting United at this point and pushing for a return to Spain – he was struggling with the demands of playing for one of the biggest clubs in world football.
Eric Steele, United’s goalkeeper coach, described De Gea’s first six months at Manchester United as horrendous.
The coach, who picked up Spanish because De Gea was “lazy in his desire to learn English”, elaborated on the keeper’s problems and how the club helped him in an interview with fanzine United We Stand in 2013.
“One issue with him was that he was just 71 kilos (11 stone). We worked with him on and off the field to make him more powerful. We changed his lifestyle. He would finish training and want to go home. When I told him to come back in the afternoon he’d ask: ‘Why?’
“We pushed protein drinks on him straight after training. We physically made him drink. We had him in the gym a lot. He hated it. They don’t do the gym in Spain as much. We needed to build his core strength.
“I told him he needed to train better, that he was on show every day. There were times in his first season when he trained poorly. I told him that players made decisions for managers, not the other way around. That he should be first, not last out for training.”
After four games on the substitutes’ bench, De Gea was recalled to the United side. He seized his chance. United drew 3-3 in a pulsating game with Chelsea but the Spaniard produced a number of important saves.
It helped rebuild his confidence and from that moment De Gea hasn’t looked back. United would win the next eight games with De Gea between the posts. He was transformed – collecting crosses with authority and putting his body in dangerous areas when required.
“David has stood up as a man,” Ferguson said at the time. “He got a grip of it, he didn’t let it get to him and the boy has improved every game.
“The area in which he had been criticised was aerial balls in the box and, if you watch the Blackburn game, the last corner-kick, he should have dealt with that.
“He knew that and he’s addressed that situation, so there’s a great improvement there. Now he’s playing with confidence and confidence is a great factor in English football. He’s shown fantastic improvement.”
Barring another short spell on the bench the following season, De Gea has since been United’s undisputed No 1. He collected a Premier League winners’ medal in Ferguson’s final season, 2012/13, but it was the following campaign in which his talent was finally recognised.
United appointed David Moyes following Ferguson’s retirement. It proved to be the wrong decision but the Red Devils’ failings meant De Gea was busier than ever before. There were games in which he single-handedly earned United points. His talents were finally recognised and at the end of the 2013-14 campaign he was named Manchester United Player of the Year.
Over the next two seasons, he’d retain the accolade. United’s struggles enabled De Gea to shine, although he would’ve undoubtedly preferred to be in the shadows of a side competing for honours.
It’s why in the summer of 2015 his time at Old Trafford was set to come to an end. Real Madrid wanted the goalkeeper and he wanted a move to the Bernabeu. Given United’s performances under David Moyes and then Louis van Gaal, it’s difficult to criticise his desire to depart.
The transfer saga dragged on all summer and wasn’t resolved until transfer deadline day. A deal was finally struck with the clock ticking, Real would sign De Gea for £29million with Keylor Navas heading to Old Trafford.
But the clock struck 11pm and there was no word of the move being completed. The minutes and then hours ticked by without confirmation. News then emerged the deal was off and Real released a statement blaming United for failing to fax over the correct paperwork.
There was a swift response from the Red Devils, they claimed they weren’t to blame and it was an issue at Madrid’s end. Ultimately, whoever was to blame wasn’t important, the fact De Gea remained a Manchester United player was.
It was a test of character for the now Spain No 1. He could’ve sulked and moaned about not getting the move he wanted. Instead he was soon back in the United side and was producing match-winning performances.
He helped the Red Devils win the FA Cup in 2016 before League Cup and Europa League victories under Jose Mourinho in 2016-17.
De Gea’s workload under the Portuguese, who shares an agent, Jorge Mendes, with the goalkeeper, was expected to decrease following his arrival in the summer of 2016. That has been far from the case.
Mourinho has yet to establish an impregnable United defence. In fact, in several games, the Red Devils have been easier to cut through than at any stage under Van Gaal or Moyes. It has all led to De Gea having to bail out his team-mates on several occasions – the latest being his extraordinary display against Arsenal.
Make no mistake, it was De Gea that won the game for United. Jesse Lingard may have scored twice and Paul Pogba was influential before his red card, but without the Spaniard, showcasing the agility of a gymnast and reactions of a fighter pilot, United would’ve been beaten.
He made 14 saves, the joint-highest ever recorded by Opta for a Premier League goalkeeper in a single game. The most breathtaking was the double stop to deny first Alexandre Lacazette and then Alexis Sanchez.
De Gea is different to most keepers in that he almost prefers to make stops with his feet. He is redefining how a goalkeeper should save a ball, and coaches are now actively encouraging young goalkeepers to use the bottom half of their body to block efforts on goal as much as their hands.
It’s why De Gea is the world’s best. He isn’t just a goalkeeper, he is a revolutionary.
A night guard at Ibuowo Estate, Okinni, Egbedore Local Government Area of Osun State, on Saturday, allegedly shot dead a 40-year-old man, Badmus Mohammed.
The guard, Rasaq Moshood, DAILY POST gathered, shot Mohammed, a tenant, who is popularly called Lasgidi dead with his dane gun.
His Landlord, Kazeem Jimoh told DAILY POST that he was at a bar with the deceased till midnight on Friday, before he was called on phone about his death.
According to Kazeem, his tenant was killed at the front of the house, while his door was left open.
“I and Kazeem were at a bar till past 12 when I left him.
“I didn’t sleep at home but I got a call around 1 a.m. that Lasgidi was killed by a guard. When i got home, I saw his door open, while his corpse was outside,” he said.
The Police spokesperson, SP Yemisi Opalola confirmed the incident.
She noted that three night guards have been arrested with their dane guns.
According to her, “one Babatunde Olumide, the Chairman of Ibuowo Estate Okinni reported at dada Estate Divisional Police Hqts., that their night guard, one Moshood Rasaq used his dane gun to shoot one Mohammed Badmus, aged 40 years and he died instantly.
“Suspect has been arrested, gun used has been recovered, while the corpse has been taken to UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital morgue for autopsy.”
Opalola added that the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation.
Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Saturday after 183 days in space, ending China’s longest crewed mission as it continues its quest to become a major space power.
The Shenzhou-13 spacecraft was the latest mission in Beijing’s drive to rival the United States, after landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the Moon.
Live footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed the capsule landing in a cloud of dust, with the ground crew who had kept clear of the landing site rushing in helicopters to reach the capsule.
The two men and one woman — Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu and Wang Yaping — returned to Earth shortly before 10 am Beijing time (0200 GMT), after six months aboard the Tianhe core module of China’s Tiangong space station.
Ground crew applauded as the astronauts each took turns to report that they were in good physical condition.
Zhai was the first to emerge from the capsule roughly 45 minutes after the landing, waving and grinning at cameras as he was lifted by the ground crew into a specially designed chair before being bundled into a blanket.
“I’m proud of our heroic country,” Zhai said in an interview with CCTV shortly after leaving the capsule. “I feel extremely good.”
The trio originally launched in the Shenzhou-13 from China’s northwestern Gobi Desert last October, as the second of four crewed missions during 2021-2022 sent to assemble the country’s first permanent space station — Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace.”
Wang became the first Chinese woman to spacewalk last November, as she and her colleague Zhai installed space station equipment during a six-hour stint.
Mission commander Zhai, 55, is a former fighter pilot who performed China’s first spacewalk in 2008, while Ye is a People’s Liberation Army pilot.
The trio have completed two spacewalks, carried out numerous scientific experiments, set up equipment and tested technologies for future construction during their time in orbit.
The astronauts spent the past few weeks tidying up and preparing the cabin facilities and equipment for the crew of the incoming Shenzhou-14, expected to be launched in the coming months.
China’s previous record spaceflight mission length was set by last year’s Shenzhou-12 deployment, which lasted 92 days.
Six months will become the normal astronaut residence period aboard the Chinese space station, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Space race
The world’s second-largest economy has poured billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a permanently crewed space station by 2022 and eventually sending humans to the Moon.
The country has come a long way in catching up with the United States and Russia, whose astronauts and cosmonauts have decades of experience in space exploration.
But under Chinese President Xi Jinping, the country’s plans for its heavily-promoted “space dream” have been put into overdrive.
Besides a space station, Beijing is also planning to build a base on the Moon, and the country’s National Space Administration said it aims to launch a crewed lunar mission by 2029.
China has been excluded from the International Space Station since 2011 when the US banned NASA from engaging with the country.
While China does not plan to use its space station for global cooperation on the scale of the ISS, Beijing has said it is open to foreign collaboration although the scope of that cooperation is not yet clear.
The ISS is due for retirement after 2024, although NASA has said it could remain functional until 2030.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday with explosions heard soon after across the country and its foreign minister warning a “full-scale invasion” was underway.
Weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.
“I have made the decision of a military operation,” Putin said in a surprise television announcement that triggered immediate condemnation from US President Joe Biden and sent global financial markets into turmoil.
Shortly after the announcement, explosions were heard in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and several other cities, according to AFP correspondents.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his address to the nation at the Kremlin in Moscow on February 21, 2022. Alexey NIKOLSKY / Sputnik / AFP
Putin called on Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms and justified the operation by claiming the government was overseeing a “genocide” in the east of the country.
The Kremlin had earlier said rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine had asked Moscow for military help against Kyiv.
The extent of Thursday’s attacks was not immediately clear, but Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the worst-case scenario was playing out.
“Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes,” Kuleba tweeted.
“This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.”
Biden immediately warned of “consequences” for Russia and that there would be a “catastrophic loss of life and human suffering”.
NATO’s chief condemned Russia’s “reckless and unprovoked attack” on Ukraine.
Putin’s move came after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made an emotional appeal late on Wednesday night to Russians not to support a “major war in Europe”.
Speaking Russian, Zelensky said that the people of Russia were being lied to about Ukraine.
Zelensky said he had tried to call Putin but there was “no answer, only silence”, adding that Moscow now had around 200,000 soldiers near Ukraine’s borders.
Earlier on Wednesday the separatist leaders of Donetsk and Lugansk sent separate letters to Putin, asking him to “help them repel Ukraine’s aggression”, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The two letters were published by Russian state media and were both dated February 22.
Their appeals came after Putin recognised their independence and signed friendship treaties with them that include defence deals.
– ‘Moment of peril’ –
Putin had for weeks defied a barrage of international criticism over the crisis, with some Western leaders saying he was no longer rational.
His announcement of the military operation came ahead of a last-ditch summit involving European Union leaders in Brussels planned for Thursday.
The 27-nation bloc had also imposed sanctions on Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu and high-ranking figures including the commanders of Russia’s army, navy and air force, another part of the wave of Western punishment after Putin sought to rewrite Ukraine’s borders.
The United Nations Security Council met late Wednesday for its second emergency session in three days over the crisis, with a personal plea there by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Putin going unheeded.
“President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine, give peace a chance, too many people have already died,” Guterres said.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, warned that an all-out Russian invasion could displace five million people, triggering a new European refugee crisis.
Before Putin’s announcement, Ukraine had urged its approximately three million citizens living in Russia to leave.
“We are united in believing that the future of European security is being decided right now, here in our home, in Ukraine,” President Zelensky said during a joint media appearance with the visiting leaders of Poland and Lithuania.
Western capitals said Russia had amassed 150,000 troops in combat formations on Ukraine’s borders with Russia, Belarus and Russian-occupied Crimea and on warships in the Black Sea.
Ukraine has around 200,000 military personnel, and could call up to 250,000 reservists.
Moscow’s total forces are much larger — around a million active-duty personnel — and have been modernised and re-armed in recent years.
– High cost of war –
But Ukraine has received advanced anti-tank weapons and some drones from NATO members. More have been promised as the allies try to deter a Russian attack or at least make it costly.
Shelling had intensified in recent days between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists — a Ukrainian soldier was killed on Wednesday, the sixth in four days — and civilians living near the front were fearful.
Dmitry Maksimenko, a 27-year-old coal miner from government-held Krasnogorivka, told AFP that he was shocked when his wife came to tell him that Putin had recognised the two Russian-backed separatist enclaves.
“She said: ‘Have you heard the news?’. How could I have known? There’s no electricity, never mind internet. I don’t know what is going to happen next, but to be honest, I’m afraid,” he said.
In a Russian village around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border, AFP reporters saw military equipment including rocket launchers, howitzers and fuel tanks mounted on trains stretching for hundreds of metres.
Russia has long demanded that Ukraine be forbidden from ever joining the NATO alliance and that US troops pull out from Eastern Europe.
Speaking to journalists, Putin on Tuesday set out a number of stringent conditions if the West wanted to de-escalate the crisis, saying Ukraine should drop its NATO ambition and become neutral.
Washington Wednesday announced sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which Germany had earlier effectively suspended by halting certification.
Australia, Britain, Japan and the European Union have all also announced sanctions.
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