The beauty of playing alongside world class team-mates is that mistakes can be glossed over by their brilliance – but only for so long. When Sir Alex Ferguson splashed £18.3M on goalkeeper David De Gea, he knew it was an investment for the future. But the Spanish Under 21 international has made such a nervy start to life at Old Trafford that Ferguson could be forgiven for fearing De Gea would follow in the unfortunate footsteps of United goalkeeping flops Mark Bosnich and Massimo Taibi.
Without doubt, August has been a month to forget for De Gea. A shaky performance in the Community Shield against Manchester City sparked concerns. He was indecisive as Joleon Lescott headed home City’s first and the Spaniard then reacted far too late to Edin Dzeko’s long range strike, which should never have beaten his dive. A rousing second half United comeback deflected some of the negativity but, nonetheless, the critics sharpened their pencils with glee.
Worse was to follow on the opening weekend of the season. United were leading 1-0 at West Brom and in full control of the contest before De Gea allowed a tame Shane Long shot to sneak through his hands and into the far corner. The blunder breathed life into the Baggies, who bombarded the increasingly uncomfortable Spaniard with a barrage of crosses and long balls. Again, though, his team-mates stepped up to spare his blushes as Ashley Young crafted a winner with nine minutes to go.
To read the rest of the article, visit: http://www.insidefutbol.com/2011/08/23/nervy-david-de-gea-struggling-to-live-up-to-man-utd-expectations/47571/
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