We’ve seen it in various sports that a shortened pre-season can make it tougher for younger players to earn a chance in the first team, and it looks like that’s the case with Man United just now.
There was real intrigue about Dean Henderson possibly coming back to Old Trafford to challenge David de Gea for the number one spot, but it’s the Spaniard who gets the nod this afternoon.
It was always the easy decision for Solskjaer to stick with de Gea for now, and it’s likely that he will stay in the team unless he gives the manager a real reason to drop him.
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The manager explained his decision to Sky Sports before the game, and it looks like the pre season and de Gea’s form for Spain made the difference here:
“I’ve got two very good goalkeepers, David played really well for Spain. We’ve had a strange summer with a quick turnaround so David’s two games for them just showed that he’s in good form.”
His decision was backed up by Gary Neville who commented that he thought Henderson was “a million miles” away from taking over from de Gea, so it will be interesting to see what happens with him this season.
He’s not going to develop by sitting on the bench all year, so another loan spell could be the best thing for him.