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During the earlier days of football, we have had some great goalkeepers who acquired legendary status among all players in the game. Lev Yashin is the only goalkeeper to ever win the prestigious Ballon D Or award till date. After Yashin's era, the likes of the great Colombian Rene Higuita and the Cameroon legend Thomas N'Kono continued to emphasize the importance of the #1, through their performances. Afterwards, Oliver Kahn and then Gianluigi Buffon and Iker Casillas continued to be superior in front of goal but not facing goal.
But even after all these years, never has time come when we have so many world-class keepers around. The wages and transfer fees for goalkeepers have never been so high as they are now. In the Premier League itself, we have Joe Hart, Alisson Becker, Bernd Leno, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Hugo Lloris and of course David De Gea. The Spaniard is one of the very few keepers in history to be considered the best and most valuable player of a team. Buffon was a prime figure in 2006 World Cup for Italy but his teammate Fabio Cannavaro won individual honours that year. Casillas' performances have been shadowed by the presence of the glittering midfield of Xavi and Iniesta in Spain and obviously Raul at Madrid before Cristiano came in.
David De Gea though even with the presence of class players in his team, is considered the most valuable player among the Red Devils. He has won the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award a record 4 times now. Not only is he winning the award but he is also delivering top-notch performances season after season, only ever improving. When earlier this season Juventus faced Manchester United, De Gea against Ronaldo was a much-talked-of battle. The Spaniard put up a great show in both legs, conceding once from 'CR7' and also denying him 2-3 other chances.
Ever since he saved that penalty against Robin Van Persie, he has been lauded as the next-big-thing. And surely now, he is the MVP in the Manchester United team. There have been games where he made sure United get the win and there have been games where the team lost but he was the lone-warrior. But there are rarely any games where the team loses because he was sub-par. (Spain vs Portugal in the World Cup to recall one) More often than not, he flexes every joint in his body to get something behind the wall.
When the Spurs hosted Manchester United at Wembley, nobody thought that we are going to see yet another De Gea masterclass. Not due to the doubt about De Gea's capability but because of the improved defense and attacks from the Red Devils. But surely, even after so much improvement, the Reds needed their MVP to step up. De Gea made 11 saves in his MOTM performance against Spurs. But where does it rank among his best? Let us take a look at the best of De Gea from recent history.
#5 Manchester United 1-0 Bournemouth, Premier League 2017-18
Last season in December, the Red Devils fell to a 2-1 loss in the Manchester Derby. 11 points adrift the league leaders and eventual winners Manchester City, the Red Devils had to keep winning to consolidate second-place. Their next challenge, Eddie Howe's Bournemouth, who had lost only one of their last 6 games coming into this one. The Cherries were not a team who'd park the bus, they were one of the bigger attacking threats.
With defensive tactics and a shambolic defense to support him, David De Gea had little help in the game from his defensive line. Bournemouth's attackers Joe King and Callum Wilson won more aerials combined than the center-back duo of Jones and Smalling. This goes to show the defensive contribution.
De Gea made a total of 7 saves in the game. The performance still appears in the top 10 of most saves made in a single game by the Spaniard. De Gea denied Charlie Daniels's drive, a near-post drive by Dan Gosling and a deflected shot from Junior Stanislas to mention a notable few. The best of the game was perhaps the save which came off a miscue. Ryan Fraser's attempted cross curled into the near post of De Gea, who had moved two steps ahead of his goal line. The Spaniard reacted in time to keep the ball out.
Bournemouth attempted a total of 14 shots on goal. Half of them found the target but every time the target was David De Gea. The Spaniard made sure that a one-goal lead is kept intact for 75 long minutes.
#4 Manchester United 2-1 Everton, Premier League 2014-15
This was the year in which the Manchester United #1 won his first Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award and this was just one of the brilliant performances that he showcased that year. Although the Spaniard only made four saves in the entire game, each one of them was important in securing the result. When we look at the fact that almost all of Manchester United's first choice defenders were out injured, it makes it that much more important.
Coming into the game, Ashley Young, Micheal Carrick, Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, and Phil Jones were all sidelined. Louis Van Gaal had no option but to go with Marcos Rojo and 19-year-old Paddy McNair in the middle with Luke Shaw and Rafael on the flanks. Although the defense was appreciable, they gave a penalty away early in the second half. Leighton Baines who had never missed a penalty in Premier League till then stepped up. Astonishingly or maybe not considering the man he was facing, Baines missed his penalty for the first time ever in the league. David De Gea made a wonderful save diving towards his lower right side.
The other major effort that he denied on goal was from Leon Osman. Osman had a go from a close range only to be denied by the palms of De Gea. In the dying minutes of the game, however, he made his best save of the game. Leighton Baines's freekick into the box, a shot from close range is attempted as the #1 dives towards his right to save it, but his defense blocks the shot. However now, the shot falls to Everton's Brian Oviedo who gives it a fair old crack. De Gea somehow recovers from his dive and now he goes lunging towards his left with an outstretched right hand to deny the Toffees.
If you haven't yet watched the amazing save, do it before moving on to the next slide.
#3 Manchester United 3-0 Liverpool, Premier League 2014-15
Another David De Gea masterpiece from 2014. Jeez, that was a good year for him, wasn't it? Well, two months after denying a Merseyside club a point (or three), David De Gea now faced the bigger club in Merseyside, Liverpool. While Liverpool came away with a 3-0 victory the last time the two sides faced, this time there was no Sturridge or Suarez as an attacking threat. This made many feel that Liverpool would pose no attacking threat and surely won't repeat the scoreline. Sure enough, they didn't repeat the scoreline but they posed more threat than expected. They would have repeated the scoreline but for the resilience of one man, Big Dave.
De Gea made a total of eight saves in the game, a majority of which posed a major threat for the Red Devils. No Suarez, but there was a young kid who had just turned 20 called Raheem Sterling who stood out for Liverpool. De Gea saved an early shot from Sterling which triggered the counter-attack and subsequently the first goal of the game. Sterling displayed his brilliance with the ball again and dribbled past Jones before having a shot saved on the near post. Denied twice from near the 6-yard box by De Gea. Sterling had another chance, this time due to a blunder from the defense. Carrick and De Gea were left confused as to who will take the initiative and Sterling pounced on the chance. De Gea got dribbled and yet closed the angle down and saved the effort.
In the second half, in came Mario Balotelli looking to score his first Liverpool goal. He had three chances, good ones and from close range but alas De Gea was bent on keeping a clean sheet. First, Sterling gave a neat pass to Balotelli and De Gea deflected it onto the post. Next, Henderson was the one who picked Balotelli out and yet again he failed to get past the De Gea. Then Markovic found Balotelli with a through ball and he missed again from close range.
De Gea's string of saves made sure Manchester United keep a clean sheet. He was unbeatable on the day and his eight saves are his third-most saves in any match.
#2 Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Manchester United, Premier League 2018-19
This is the most recent and most talked about performance of the Spaniard. So where does this rank among his great, great displays? Here is the answer. The 11 saves that he made is the second-most made by him in a single game and third most in a Premier League game. (behind Tim Krul(14) and Edwin Van Der Sar(12))
Not only did he keep a clean sheet, but he also did so against the dangerous attacking quartet of Tottenham. Alli, Kane, Son, Eriksen, everyone tried. They came, they saw but they couldn't bypass the Spanish wall. De Gea has certainly given everyone a meme material with his saves against Tottenham. Could he save the Titanic? Do you bet? Or does he keep his goalpost closed on Sundays? Well whatever, he was just humongous against Spurs.
11 saves in a single game is not a record to look away from. We know it, once Harry Kane gets the ball into his right foot, it is lights out for the keeper. He shifted the ball towards his right dangerously close to the 6-yard box and fired a shot. De Gea gets down and with his right leg, parries the ball away. Then Dele Alli gets a header directed perfectly in the lower right corner of the goal, a big leap towards his left and De Gea stretches his arm out, Alli denied.
Son was through on a 1v1 against De Gea, couldn't beat him from close range. Kane tried with his head, met the Spaniard. He then tried with his left, a split feet extension of the right foot towards the near post and De Gea denies Kane again. Alderweireld came dangerously close to scoring off a corner but De Gea saved it with his feet on the near post, just outside the goal line. A save with no reaction time at all, pure reflexes.
How often is it that Harry Kane has 7 attempts, 4 on target and yet no goals. How often is it that a keeper saves all 11 on target?
But then why is it in the second place? Here is why...
#1 Arsenal 1-3 Manchester United, Premier League 2017-18
When you make 11 saves and it still isn't your best performance, then it is because you hold the Premier League record with 14 saves. Yes, 14 saves. Along with Tim Krul, David De Gea holds the record for most saves in a single game in the Premier League. Last season, Arsene Wenger's Arsenal came up against a brick wall that no player would want to face. Close range, long range, fast, finesse, rebound, nothing could beat De Gea. Every one of the saves fired him up even more.
The defense was in complete shambles, to say the least. Against Tottenham, a number of shots were blocked by the defenders and players were put under a bit of pressure. That is as much a defender could do to help his keeper. De Gea had absolutely no help from his defense, and this is not an exaggeration. They just stood ball watching while Lacazette kept teeing off at goal. If not for De Gea, it would have been 6-3, Arsenal win.
United got off to a great start, two goals inside the first 12 minutes. Then they just sat back as Arsenal kept coming and firing away at De Gea. Each player who took aim was under no real pressure. They had space and time. Lacazette tried first to turn the ball in but De Gea somehow closed his legs in time to prevent the goal. Lacazette was hardly three yards from goal. And then the Frenchman came again through the wing. He went inside the box and dribbled De Gea. The Spaniard went down in desperation and saved the attempt at full stretch. Then Ozil, Bellerin and Kolasinac, all followed up with their attempts, not at all easy ones to deal with, especially with space and time they were awarded.
And then came an absolute blunder from the defense. They were not helping in any case and now they almost got an own goal for Arsenal. Lukaku stretched his left leg and instead of clearing the ball, he turned it goalwards. The ball was barely kept out, cleared off the line by De Gea's reflex left hand. In the second-half, Lacazette got a goal. Then he went for goal again, a drive with his left foot low to the right-hand side of the post. De Gea saved at full-stretch. Then Alexis Sanchez followed it up before any of the defenders even moved their muscle to clear the danger. Sanchez fired the ball goalwards and De Gea scrambled back to save the shot with his right heel.
De Gea kept the Red Devils in the game throughout and won the MOTM award. His performance was not one of the best but the undisputed best in Premier League ever.
