POLL: Is the criticism directed towards David de Gea valid?

Goalkeeping and shot stopping are the two toughest arts in the game; yet goalkeepers aren’t as appreciated as the on-field players by the media, football pundits or fans.David de Gea is a classic example of this.

David de Gea, who has been selected as the successor for the legendary Edwin Van der Sar, is subject to very harsh criticism even if he performs well. Now let us take a look at De Gea’s game against Tottenham.

Minute 14: Lennon has a go and sends a low shot with his left foot towards the bottom-right corner. de Gea gets down to push it and then saves the rebound from Defoe, who was offside . Minute 27: Defoe turns and shoots from an acute angle, forcing de Gea to make a quick fine save down by his near post. Minute 40: David de Gea makes a wonderful save to deny Gareth Bale‘s thunderous deflected shot. Minute 51: Fabulous stop by David de Gea to deny Clint Dempsey with his feet.Wonderful reflexes. Minute 93: Dempsey scores after a weak de Gea punch.

The Daily news and analysis stated- “Ferguson must act as De Gea fails again”.

Alan Hansen was the quickest to react. Alan Hansen wants Sir Alex Ferguson to axe David de Gea and put back Anders Lindegaard back in the Manchester United goal. According to him, “Manchester United’s hopes of regaining the Premier League title will always be in jeopardy if David de Gea keeps making mistakes like the one against Spurs and he must surely be on his last chance now”

The fact is that David de Gea is only 22 years old. However, the critics and the football pundits expect him to play the way Peter Schmeichel and Edwin Van der Sar did right from the word go. Gary Neville argues with Jamie Redknapp saying that, “If he plays for Manchester United,he got to punch the ball 15-20 yards out”.

David de Gea will surely be kicking himself for the feeble punch that led to Tottenham’s equalizer but if the buildup to the goal is observed careful, Nemanja Vidic fails to communicate with the goalkeeper leading to yet another defensive lapse. But had it not been for de Gea, Tottenham would have surely celebrated another victory over Man United. He was the clear difference-maker for the men in Red and Black, and deserves plenty of credit and appreciation for saving United the blushes.