Friday, May 18th, 2012
After what has been months of speculation and false dawns (don’t just take out word for it) David De Gea has finally completed his much anticiapted move to Manchester United. The 20-year old has signed a 5-year contract, for a fee reported to be around £18.9m. Our good friend Gary Nunn is an Atletico Madrid die-hard, and holds a season ticket with the captial club. Here he has a look at how it all began for the reigning Premiership Champions’ new man.
The whole ground stood and sang. A legend was about to be born. David De Gea had come on as a sub against FC Porto in the Champions League and three days later he would make his full debut in the Vicente Calderón for the club he had been with since he was 13 – as De Gea dived and saved the penalty against Real Zaragoza he was finally where he belonged…but it almost didn’t happen.
De Gea first made news in England when Sky Sports ran a weekly scouting article reviewing young players across the globe and the young goalkeeper had caught the eye of one reporter. Nicknamed ‘David Van Der Gea’ for his resemblance to Edwin Van Der Sar it seemed only a matter of time before he made his 1st team debut.
He was to though, have a disastrous 2008-09 campaign for Atlético Madrid B and the men in charge were starting to doubt his ability. With the departure of Leo Franco to Turkey the club managed to sign Sergio Asenjo who was being dubbed the ‘New Casillas’ after some fine displays for Real Valladolid. The club also signed Roberto, so De Gea had to settle for the B team. Then Asenjo shocked many when he announced his desire to play in the Under-20 World Cup.
Atlético had some big games in the Champions League coming up and some started to doubt whether the new shot stopper had the necessary desire to play at the club. With Asenjo now away it ended up being Roberto who took over as No 1 and this allowed De Gea to get his first taste of the limelight when promoted to the bench.
One man’s tragedy is another’s opportunity and when Roberto got injured in Portugal, De Gea promptly hit the ground running. He made several solid displays but when Asenjo returned he was given back the No. 1 jersey and De Gea returned to the bench. Manager at the time Abel Resino was struggling, and so was the confidence sapped defence. Asenjo made mistake after mistake and some of the Atletico faithful were starting to turn on him. With the arrival of Quique Sanchez Flores and the continuous drop in form of Asenjo, it was then De Gea who established himself as the No. 1. The rest is history…
So what makes the lad so special? He is very shy and keeps to himself. His family and friends have wrapped him in cotton wool and have protected him at every turn, while on the pitch he has shown maturity that some of his teammates – even senior members – lack. His handling of the ball and his reflexes are just simply incredible while he has a good history of stopping penalties. While he didn’t command the Atlético defense in a way Van Der Sar might have done, it must be remembered that organizing the Atlético defence is almost a Mission Impossible – even a seldom watcher of La Liga could tell you this. Having Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in front of him will be a considerable advantage when settling in.
Yet he does have some weaknesses; his positioning at times has been suspect and on some occasions he appears hesitant to come off his line. He needs to learn to be more commanding with the defence and at times seems to be his own worst critic. While he has shown some amazing talent on the pitch, he still has a long way to go to be a truly great goalkeeper. If Manchester United can build on his strengths, harness his talent then I can see none of those weaknesses being a major issue.
That then leaves Atlético who lose another member of their Cantera, and not since Fernando Torres have we had someone who has managed to lift the Calderón like he has – and this, is quite a compliment. Some fans feel betrayed by De Gea feeling that as a youth product of the club he should have shown more loyalty but others understand that the failure of some at the club to show De Gea that he was an important player is the real reason he is leaving.
It is worth noting that De Gea wanted to stay at Atlético but the club offered a derisory contract and he saw it as a sign that he was not in the clubs long-term plans. If the English fans and press show patience with him he could be one of the shrewdest signings that Sir Alex Ferguson has yet made!
Gary has been an ever supportive member of our site since day one, so make sure to to check out his own website MadridAtleticos to keep up to date with the goings on at the Calderon. You can also grab him via Twitter to pose any questions you may have about De Gea, or any other subject concerning Atlético Madrid or football in Spain.
Tags: Atletico Madrid, David De Gea, Fernando Torres, La Liga, Manchester United, Premiership, Sir Alex Ferguson
I think it may be not the best decision for De Gea. La Liga is a better league than the Premiership although I realise we talk about the best two leagues in Europe, so from nr 1 to 2 is hardly really a downfall. But in Atletico he was the undisputed nr 1, in England he’s got everything to prove again. If he had established himself as the undisputed starter for Atletico in the best league of Europe he could still aim abroad if needed, but I fear this move has been made in a bit of a rush. He was very comfortable where he was, in England he has to build from scratch again.
PS: without denying Van der Sar’s qualities, but he wasn’t exactly the best goalie of his generation neither. Peter Schmeichel, that was an impressive goalie through and through. In the Champions League final, Van der Sar made a very bad mistake on the Messi goal which eventually broke the tie in Barcelona’s advantage. Also don’t forget that Van der Sar only arrived in England because he underperformed in Italy and Juventus didn’t want him anymore. So to compare De Gea with him is not as big a compliment as many would say.
Best wishes to David with his future endeavours. The signing by ManU of our fine keeper is a testament to the quality of the material that we’re putting out in Nuevo Cerro del Espino. If there is one bad turn, apart from loosing a crack goalie, is my fear that DeGea may not develop correctly under the leadershipt of a curmudgeon the likes of Alex Ferguson and his obsolete style of play. Buena suerte David!!!
[...] Spanishfootball.info, our friend Gary from MadridAtleticos writes an in depth look at David DeGea as he signs for Manchester United. The Cat in the Hat, as we call [...]