Former Manchester United shot-stopper Edwin Van der Sar has praised the resilience of David De Gea, claiming the current keeper was a key part of the Red Devils’ title triumph.
Having cemented his place as number one at Old Trafford the young Spaniard’s impressive performances earned him a place in the PFA Team of the Year.
The 22-year-old’s displays were scrutinised by the media at the beginning of the season, but Dutch veteran Van der Sar believes he has proved the critics wrong.
“The first half of the season and the year before, there were some mixed feelings and the gaffer changed it up a little bit to play Anders Lindegaard for three or four games,” he told the club website.
“But then David came back in and we stuck with him. From that point, his performances grew and he became more important to the team all of the time.
“It has been a good turn around for him in terms of his performances and his own self-confidence in being the Manchester United goalkeeper.
“The PFA recognition was great but the main thing you want is to win the Premier League. Personal accolades are nice but the main thing is winning something with the team.”
Van der Sar, widely renowned as the first real replacement for Peter Schmeichel, retired in 2011 as Sir Alex Ferguson snapped up De Gea from Atletico Madrid.
As the Ferguson era comes to an end, the former Fulham and Ajax stopper believes David Moyes, De Gea and co. need to hit the heady European heights.
“The next step for the whole club, and for David, is to establish themselves among the elite in Europe,” he added. “In five years, we reached three finals, a semi-final and a quarter-final so it would be nice to reach that level again.
“I think for the whole team the Premier League is always important but the last two years have been disappointing in Europe.”
Image courtesy of Yahoo, with thanks.
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