Well, before I start off, let me explain the title. Jose Mourinho is one of the greatest managers that this game has seen. People tend to forget but he won that eluded Champions League title with a Porto side, while Pep Guardiola, arguably the finest manager of the current lot, is struggling to win achieve the same feat with his almost perfectly assembled Manchester City squad.
Though one would also accept that he isn’t the same manager anymore. Or maybe, he’s the same manager but it’s not the same game anymore. It’s upto you to decide. Though for me, it’s a mixture of both. Same is the case for Spanish international and Manchester United’s No.1, David De Gea. He’s one of the finest goalkeepers of his time, though it’s starting to seem as if his time is passing by.
As I said, both of these personality’s downfall can be attributed to a mixture of two different phenomenons. Lemme explain what I mean. Firstly, you would have to accept that it’s not the same David De Gea anymore. De Gea of 2015-17 never made the kind of howlers and blunders that this current version of the Spaniard does. De Gea was making 3.1 saves per match in the 2017/18 season in the Premier League. While in the current season he’s only making 2.5 saves per match. His reflexes might have also slowed down a bit, as reflected by his stats about saving shots from inside the penalty box. In 2017/18 season, he was making 1.7 saves for shots from inside the penalty box, while for the current season, he’s only making 1.3 such saves. More importantly, this is the lowest for his time in the Premier League.
Secondly, it seems the game has also moved past him. A modern-day goalkeeper is expected to be great at his feet. Two notable words in this statement are “expected” and “great”. Some years back, you wouldn’t have found those words in anyone’s definition of an ideal goalkeeper. A good shot-stopper was considered a good goalkeeper. Though with the arrival of Alisson and Ederson in the Premier League has changed that definition drastically. Talking about the statistics, in this season, Ederson and Alisson have a pass success rate of 86.6% and 83% respectively in the Premier League, while they complete 3.4 and 4.1 successful long balls per match respectively. That’s where David De Gea really lacks behind, he has a pass success rate of 72.5% and he only completes 2.5 successful long balls per match in the Premier League this season.
Like Jose Mourinho, David De Gea is still rated in the footballing world, though with each passing day their credibility is taking a hit. Though unlike Mourinho, at 29 the former Atletico Madrid goalie has enough time on his hands to turn it around. And I really hope that we can get to see the best of David De Gea again.
