Some Manchester United fans won’t like the look of this stat which proves that their high earner David de Gea is the worst Premier League goalkeeper in this area.
Following West Ham’s 2-0 win against Manchester United this afternoon, it’s been revealed that Red Devils superstar David de Gea is the worst Premier League goalkeeper when it comes to conceding free-kicks.
Hammers left-back Aaron Cresswell sealed a victory for his side by firing a stunning free-kick into the top corner, United legend Gary Neville wasn’t impressed with De Gea’s efforts and called the Spaniard ‘poppadom hands’.
Take a look at Cresswell’s stunning effort here.
Opta revealed the concerning stat on Twitter:
12 – Since the start of the 2011-12 season, David de Gea has conceded more Premier League goals from direct free-kicks than any other goalkeeper (12). Weakness. pic.twitter.com/tDsOUjTl2c
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 22, 2019
De Gea’s apparent mistake comes less than a week after the 28-year-old was handed a new marquee contract by the Red Devils. The Guardian understands that the Spaniard’s new four-year deal will net him a staggering £350,000-a-week.
Some United fans may desperately try to make the case that this stat is slightly cherry-picked considering that De Gea is one of the longer-serving keepers in the league.
However, the likes of Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris and Watford’s Ben Foster are just two stoppers that have been active during this time, rendering that counter-argument useless.
De Gea’s inability at stop shots coming from outside of the box should be very concerning for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, this is a crucial area which the stopper needs to improve on.
