The young Spaniard made a high-profile error in the win against West Brom at the weekend, but he has been backed to follow in the footsteps of Edwin van der Sar
Aug 16, 2011
By Ben Adu-Owusu
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Ian Wright has no doubt that David de Gea will become a Manchester United goalkeeping legend.
The €21 million signing from Atletico Madrid has come in for criticism after struggling against West Brom on his Premier League debut, where he allowed a tame Shane Long shot to pass through his arms and into the back of the net.
But Wright believes that the young Spaniard will overcome the challenge of living up to the pressure of playing for one of the world's biggest clubs and become an Old Trafford stalwart.
"He is only 20 and has gone straight into the team after arriving at the club for a lot of money," Wright wrote in The Sun."Yet any mistakes he makes are always going to be highlighted, because he is at arguably the biggest club in the world. The spotlight will always be on him.
"When you have had great keepers like Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar, it is always going to be difficult to follow in their footsteps
"From what I have seen of De Gea, as long as he can keep going and limit his mistakes - because all goalies make mistakes - he will be fine.
"I think that he will go on to be one of the great goalkeepers at Manchester United, without a doubt."
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken up against the 'abuse' that De Gea received from the West Brom players.
"Any goalkeeper would be under pressure from their kind of physical attack. This is all new to him, having to collect so many crosses and high balls, but we knew that would be the case when we bought him," said Ferguson.
Eric Steele, United's goalkeeping coach, scouted De Gea for more than 18 months and said that he will be given time to adjust.
"Did you see Edwin when he was 20? There's work to be done, but no player is completely finished at 20," Steele said.
De Gea will hope to pick up his game in Manchester United's next match against Tottenham.
The €21 million signing from Atletico Madrid has come in for criticism after struggling against West Brom on his Premier League debut, where he allowed a tame Shane Long shot to pass through his arms and into the back of the net.
But Wright believes that the young Spaniard will overcome the challenge of living up to the pressure of playing for one of the world's biggest clubs and become an Old Trafford stalwart.
"He is only 20 and has gone straight into the team after arriving at the club for a lot of money," Wright wrote in The Sun."Yet any mistakes he makes are always going to be highlighted, because he is at arguably the biggest club in the world. The spotlight will always be on him.
"When you have had great keepers like Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar, it is always going to be difficult to follow in their footsteps
"From what I have seen of De Gea, as long as he can keep going and limit his mistakes - because all goalies make mistakes - he will be fine.
"I think that he will go on to be one of the great goalkeepers at Manchester United, without a doubt."
Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken up against the 'abuse' that De Gea received from the West Brom players.
"Any goalkeeper would be under pressure from their kind of physical attack. This is all new to him, having to collect so many crosses and high balls, but we knew that would be the case when we bought him," said Ferguson.
Eric Steele, United's goalkeeping coach, scouted De Gea for more than 18 months and said that he will be given time to adjust.
"Did you see Edwin when he was 20? There's work to be done, but no player is completely finished at 20," Steele said.
De Gea will hope to pick up his game in Manchester United's next match against Tottenham.
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