Ten Hag tipped to axe senior Man Utd man who’s worse than ‘lower league’ players and recall ‘fabulous’ forgotten star
Erik ten Hag has been asked to axe a senior star who can't compete with "lower league" players in one part of the game, with an underappreciated but "fabulous" Manchester United star tipped to take his place next season.
When Ten Hag took over at Old Trafford, several questioned the suitability of one of Manchester United’s most significant players for their new manager. David de Gea has won the Manchester United Players’ Player of the Year award four times. He’s also a five-time PFA Team of the Season selection, however, whether he’s what Ten Hag is looking for in a goalkeeper is debatable.
Indeed, the Dutch manager prefers a possession-based game in which his goalkeeper must be comfortable on the ball and start from a high position. De Gea is commanding with his gloves, but less so with his feet.
His inadequacies were cruelly revealed last Thursday in the Europa League. De Gea placed Harry Maguire in jeopardy with an erroneous pass for Sevilla’s opening goal, and his failure to trap a high ball under his foot assisted Youssef En-Nesyri’s third goal.
De Gea’s contract with Manchester United expires this summer. His current contract did have a 12-month extension option, which United chose not to exercise in favor of negotiating a new contract.
De Gea’s technical ability has been savaged.
Cascarino slammed De Gea’s abilities with the ball at his feet, adding that he’s seen lower-league players who are more at ease with the ball.
Ten Hag should also give the “fabulous” Dean Henderson a shot next season, according to the pundit. Henderson is now on loan at Nottingham Forest, though they are unlikely to sign him permanently if they are relegated to the Championship.
Cascarino told talkSPORT regarding Ten Hag’s future plans: “I’m not even sure De Gea survives, because Ten Hag is going to want a footballing goalkeeper.”
“Ten Hag comes from the Ajax football academy, and his players must be technically very good in order to play in a certain way.”
“Look at all of the top clubs in the country, look at Pep Guardiola’s decision at Manchester City to get rid of Joe Hart because he wanted Ederson, who could play with his feet much more.” Arsenal did the same with Aaron Ramsdale, and Liverpool did the same with Alisson.
“A lot of the clubs that are doing exceptionally well have changed goalkeepers. I’ve gotten flak for stating that before, but if Tottenham wants to play in a different fashion, they need a better footballing goalkeeper than Hugo Lloris.
“I believe that is where Manchester United are with David de Gea.” You must be able to manipulate your feet. I watch lower-league football and have seen goalkeepers with far superior footwork than De Gea. I swear to you, I’ve seen a handful of them, and they’re better.”
