It was one of the Premier League’s great goalkeeping performances. Save after save, each more impressive than the one that preceded it.
His performance against Arsenal on Saturday was unique, record-equalling, and cemented David De Gea’s spot as the world’s greatest goalkeeper.
Yes, Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer is excellent but the Manchester United No 1 is now better. The Spaniard’s reflexes are remarkable and his ability to stop the ball with his feet is unrivalled. His journey to the top hasn’t been easy, however. Challenges have been overcome, his character tested. So we asked our friends at Football Whispers to reflect on the 27-year-old’s rise from a slight and inconsistent goalkeeper to the world’s best.
De Gea’s story is not rags to riches, it’s quite the opposite in fact. But it is one based around family and how the support of his parents enabled him to achieve the dream of many a young boy. From an early age De Gea’s love for sport was evident. He would play basketball and tennis and was very good in both. But football was his passion and he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, Jose, a former goalkeeper for Getafe. His formative years, however, were spent as an outfield player. De Gea was tall and quick, while his agility and lightning quick reflexes meant he stood out among his team-mates. And yet he always wanted to be a goalkeeper.
In Jose, David had the perfect coach. His father would attempt to be at every game and every training session. He would then offer advice, guidance and, if required, criticism. It was all to ensure his son could achieve his dream. As De Gea entered his teenage years, his story becomes a little unclear. There are stories which suggest that, at the age of 14, he was finally offered a chance to join the youth set-up of Atletico Madrid, the club he supported as a boy. But a coach for Casarrubuelos Football School, a school in Madrid for which De Gea played, tells a different tale.
“We went to play a friendly at Cerro del Espino against the Cadet B of Atletico, who were trained by Emilio Garcia,” he said in an interview with Spanish newspaper AS.
“He always asked me: ‘Juanlu, do you have a goalkeeper for Atleti?’ I said: ‘Look no further, De Gea’. But the weeks passed and David’s father told me that they had put in an offer, so I had to lie to them. “I had to squeeze them a little bit. I got in touch with Emilio and I said that either they do something or the boy would go to Rayo [Vallecano]. It was not true. But Ruso Diego, the former Atleti goalkeeper, saw David play half a game and that was enough. He was signed immediately. ” De Gea would move away from the family home in Toledo, but his parents support didn’t wane. Jose wouldn’t just attend every youth game but would be at training – in wind, rain or snow – to watch the progress of his talented son.
His mum would call De Gea up to four times a week to check the precocious goalkeeper wasn’t neglecting his school work.
“She was always worried about the balance between my studies and sports,” the United goalkeeper later explained. “My parents would drive 50km a day just to come take a look at me at Atletico’s training ground in the plush area of Alarcon.” Some teenagers may have found that overbearing, but De Gea didn’t. He appreciated the love and care he received and remains to this day incredibly close to both of his parents, who moved to England following the goalkeeper’s switch to United.
As De Gea progressed through the youth ranks at Atletico Madrid, his talent was becoming obvious to coaches and players alike. It’s why when Quique Sanchez Flores took over Atleti in October 2009, he asked goalkeeping coach Emilio Alvarez Blanco – who is now the goalkeeper coach at Old Trafford – who was the pick of the Colchoneros stoppers.
Without hesitation Alvarez name-checked De Gea, who is far-sighted, and means he wears contact lenses.
The 18-year-old had made his first-team debut a month earlier, replacing the experienced Roberto in a Champions League game against Porto, a match which Atleti lost 2-0 with De Gea conceding two late goals.
His La Liga debut would come three days later against Real Zaragoza, in which he conceded but saved a penalty in a 2-1 win. It was under Sanchez Flores, however, that De Gea established himself as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper. There were mistakes, hardly unsurprising given his age, but the same qualities that define De Gea today stood out. By January 2010 the transfer rumours linking him with a move to Old Trafford began.
But he remained with Atleti and continued to impress over the next 18 months. There was a Uefa Super Cup win over Chelsea and as well as a Europa League title. By the summer of 2011, Sir Alex Ferguson’s mind was made up, he wanted De Gea to be the long-term successor to Edwin Van der Sar and made his move.
The fee raised a few eyebrows, £18.9million is not often spent on a goalkeeper with less than two years’ experience in a first team. And Sir Alex’s history when signing goalkeepers was far from perfect.
The 13-times winner was so convinced that De Gea was United’s future No 1 that the great Scottish manager missed a game to go and watch him play.
From The Sun
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