Former Man Utd goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has criticised David De Gea over his ‘lack of concentration’ which has led to mistakes creeping into his game.
The Spaniard was guilty of another howler at the weekend in the 1-1 draw with Everton as he gifted the opener to Dominic Calvert-Lewis early on, and it’s something that has just started to happen a little too often for his liking or anyone concerned at United for that matter.
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Schmeichel has offered his opinion on the current Man Utd No.1’s struggles, and he believes that the speculation over De Gea’s future and a move to Real Madrid over the years hasn’t helped and he must do better at this level as the errors are simply inexcusable.
“It’s a lack of concentration,” he is quoted as saying by the Sun. “For top clubs, the way to win the championships is not to give anything away easily – you don’t do that.
“In seven games, seven mistakes have led to loss of points, that’s far too many. That’s too much for a top club and that’s something that David de Gea needs to get out of his game. He needs better concentration.
“I think the disappointment of not going to Real Madrid at that time, feeling like he’s caught up here, rebuilding the team, insecurity in defence – there is a lot of things going on.
“But I think with his experience that he should be the one calming things down and ensuring every easy thing was dealt with. In certain situations, that hasn’t happened and people start to focus on that.
“When people pinpoint something on your performances, you start to think about it and start to believe you have a problem. That might be why we see David de Gea in these situations.”
It remains to be seen if De Gea can put these mistakes behind him and offer a reliable and solid base in the side between now and the end of the season.
Man Utd are still in a position to secure Champions League qualification as well as trophies with the FA Cup and Europa League, but they’ll need to stop shooting themselves in the foot and De Gea has been guilty of doing that on occasion this season.