Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has admitted he was left ‘flabbergasted’ by David de Gea’s errors against Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals.
As reported by The Sun, former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has claimed that under-fire goalkeeper David de Gea is currently not in a position to be defended after his mistakes against Chelsea in the FA Cup.
De Gea failed to make two relatively straightforward stops on Sunday evening, as Chelsea beat Manchester United 3-1 in the semi-finals of the FA Cup at the Wembley Stadium. This display was another in a series of erratic performances from the Spaniard, who was once heralded as the best goalkeeper in the game.
De Gea was guilty of letting past Steven Bergwijn’s shot against Tottenham in what was Manchester United’s first game after the restart of the season last month. While he had kept a few clean sheets between then and Sunday, the display against the Blues has cast serious doubts over his standing as the No. 1 at Old Trafford.
Ferdinand, who played for a couple of seasons with de Gea at Manchester United, has admitted that he was flabbergasted to see the errors that his ex-teammate had made against Chelsea this past weekend. Speaking on BT Sport, the former Red Devils’ centre-back said:
“David de Gea is no exception. He’s made mistakes, glaring mistakes in some big games, notably the game against Chelsea in the semi-final at Wembley. I watched these games with my boys at home and I was flabbergasted to see them go past David because he’s a top-drawer goalkeeper.”
The former England international then went on to add that being a Manchester United fan he would want to defend de Gea, but the recent mistakes have left him in an undefendable position.
“It is disappointing really, as a Manchester United fan you want to defend your player but at the moment he is not in a position to be defended in that respect.”
However, Ferdinand insisted that de Gea has the character to make a comeback from his recent jittery performances, having done so early in his career at Manchester United, when he had struggled to cope with the demands of the Premier League.
De Gea’s recent performances have opened the window for Dean Henderson to push for the No.1 spot at Manchester United. The 23-year-old academy graduate has been excelling on loan at Sheffield United and will certainly stake a claim for the starting berth.
Manchester United Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will have a huge decision to make in the off-season regarding the goalkeeping situation at the club.
