Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea failed to deal with a routine save against bottom-placed Watford on Sunday, and this paved way for the Hornets to register only their second win of the season.
The Spaniard, who has kept just two clean sheets this season, fumbled to keep out a powerless attempt from Ismaila Sarr and was beaten by Troy Deeney from the spot as Nigel Pearson walked off with three points for the first time as Watford manager.
When Man Utd lose to the side coming last in the Premier League 😳
— D A N I S H (@Dan_i_sh) December 23, 2019
That De Gea error 🤦♂️pic.twitter.com/1aMvyRjaDQ
The incident took place in the 50th minute when the Hornets got the breakthrough, and although it seemed like a clear error, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suggested that de Gea was probably thinking of a counter while dealing with Sarr’s attempt.
"It's just a ball that slips through his hands, a routine save he [should] make, he might be thinking about where we're gonna go from then,” said Solskjaer.
6 - Since the start of last season, no player has made more errors leading to goals in the Premier League than David de Gea (6). Gifts. #WATMUN pic.twitter.com/RIpNYWZYi5
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 22, 2019
"One of the things we are looking for now is when he catches it we're gonna go forward quick and maybe it's down to the next action.
It was, in fact, de Gea second error in as many games as he also failed to deal with an Everton corner which led Victor Lindelof scoring an own goal. As things stand, United are without a clean sheet in their last 13 league games.
Fan on Twitter, meanwhile, went berserk with the Spaniard’s approach and this is how they are reacting:
David Martin, the 33 year old third choice West Ham keeper who made his PL debut 23 days ago, has the same number of clean sheets as David de Gea this season
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) December 22, 2019
De Gea is still world class but with Romero with an outstanding form, he needs to be given more chance. With De Gea making mistakes it's almost disrespect to Romero to relegate him to cup matches. Nothing against De Gea but Romero deserves better#GGMU
— Kavinas Rajah (@thekavinasrajah) December 23, 2019
Excluding shootouts, De Gea has conceded 28 penalties, saved four and one's been missed during his #mufc career. Hasn't saved a Premier League penalty since Baines in 2014.
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) December 23, 2019
1 more error this season and we will have to start a real conversation about De Gea.
— Ezu 🇳🇬™ (@EzuUtd) December 23, 2019
Love him for all he has done for the club but I think he has exhausted that goodwill free pass we give him.
Too important and too well paid to be making those kind of errors consistently.
De Gea x Maguire expectations vs reality pic.twitter.com/Ru9hnc0s84
— Josh (@ftbljosh) December 22, 2019
#WATMUN yall remember when you said de gea can save a pdf on a calculator, well Syntax Error 💀💔
— Beardless fineboy 🇳🇬❁ (@_giwasegun) December 22, 2019
Much as i love DDG, his decline has been alarming in the last two years. Henderson must be due a chance next season unless there is a marked improvement. #MUFC
— GavinRymer (@gavmufc) December 22, 2019
Sorry to say but David De Gea is making too many mistakes now. Should sell him for 60 70 odd millions in June. Dean Henderson has been tremendous, it's his time now. #MUFC #WATMUN
— Adam Hurst (@AdamHurst_) December 22, 2019
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Daniel Leal-Olivas
