After United's tough win over West Ham, manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ran into the London Bowl, his goal in line with other Red Devils players and coaches, that is, goalkeeper De Gea. In front of goal, the Spanish goalkeeper was surrounded by a group of starters or substitutes, and his hair was already rubbed in a mess. Solskjaer entered the crowd, holding De Gea's face for a few words of encouragement, and then did not forget to grab a handful of his hair like the others.
In this game, De Gea deserved any praise as he pounced on West Ham's penalty in the final moments of the game. The main penalty player is not an ordinary person, but Mark Noble, a penalty expert specially replaced by Moyes. The England veteran has bounced off his last 10 penalties, with the last penalty throw in 2016. The full statistic is that Noble scored 27 goals on 31 premier league penalties, with an 87% goal scoring rate.
De Gea, by contrast, has not saved a penalty since 2016 and has been unable to block an opponent's shot from 12 yards in 41 matches between Manchester United and Spain. The data showed that de Gea could not save a penalty from any angle on the goal. The most emblematic of these was last season's Europa League final, where de Gea failed to save any of his 11 penalties against Villarreal's penalty shootout and lost it himself.
In April 2016, De Gea saved a penalty from Romelu Lukaku against Everton in the FA Cup semi-finals to send United to the final and eventually win the title. The last time he saved a penalty in the Premier League was seven years ago, when he also blocked a free throw from Leiden Byrns in October 2014 against Everton.
But this time, the situation is different, Noble has just come out, his first touch is to pick up the ball and place it on the penalty spot, the first touch of his feet, is the penalty. Penalty expert, this time fell in the hands of the penalty rookie.
In fact, de Gea saved a penalty last season, facing Crystal Palace in the first round, he turned jordan Ayo's penalty out of the door, but because both feet were off the goal line, the referee decided to kick hard, and the opponent changed to Zaha to take the penalty and scored the ball.
After this successful save, De Gea also feared that he would repeat the mistakes of the past, but fortunately the referee did not show any indication and he succeeded. "I saw Rice with the ball and thought he was playing it, but then I saw Noble running over." De Gea said, "I had only one thought in my head, to save a penalty and help the team. At the last minute of the game, I made the save, which was our important 3 points."
Manchester United manager Solskjaer praised De Gea for having a new look: "He has become a different person! Of course, during the pre-season training camp, he took the initiative to ask for an early return to the team, and he wanted to prove how good he was. He was very focused and today he saved two points for us."
Solskjaer added: "We are very happy to win and United deserve it. We played some really good football, created good chances and forced the opponents to make a lot of mistakes. Luckily, David (De Gea) saved that penalty at the end. I believe David, I've seen his penalty save. He saved a penalty against Crystal Palace last season, only to leave the goal line with his foot. I've seen Noble score a lot of penalties and you do get frustrated and feel like you can only take one point home, but luckily David kept him in good shape."
But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was unhappy with United's defence, not just the penalty but also Ben Raheem's first-time goal in the first half. The Reds currently have an expensive defence worth £200 million in transfer fees, with Luke Shaw £30m, Maguire £80m, Wan Bissaka £50m and Varane £43m, but they have all made mistakes in their defence this season.
In the past week, All four of United's protectors have made their own mistakes: Wan Bissaka's Champions League red, Maguire's backline in the Premier League was broken, Varane refracted Ben Raheem's shot into the net, and Luke Shaw sent a handball to the point.
In the defensive zone, the only one with zero mistakes is goalkeeper De Gea! Although De Gea has only kept a clean sheet in just one game so far, United have conceded all four goals. Conversely, De Gea's 15 saves gave United five more points.
The data shows that during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tenure, United have made 19 mistakes that directly led to the loss of goals, behind Newcastle (22) and Everton (20), the third most in the Premier League. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said: "When defending, you can't rest, we used to retreat to the small box, giving the opponent too much space, blocking the shot is always too late. We've looked for a solution and mentioned it at half-time and it improved in the second half."
However, according to ESPN, even though De Gea has played well this season and celebrities have suggested a fixed goalkeeper, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still refuses to give the Spanish goalkeeper absolute main force guarantee. Instead, the United boss encouraged Henderson and Tom Heaton, saying they could still compete for starting status.
Sources said the boss believes competition will benefit all Manchester United goalkeepers. He expects the team to play 50 to 60 games this season and told De Gea, Henderson and Heaton: They all have their own chances.
To be sure, De Gea will miss Wednesday's English League Cup match against West Ham at Old Trafford and Henderson or Heaton will take over.
But given that United still lack a defensive midfielder, poor protection of the top of the penalty area, and the fact that the four main defenders, despite their excellent individual abilities, often have problems with the defense, a De Gea who has returned to his peak form is definitely indispensable to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and the 24-year-old Dean Henderson, although well received, does not have this ability. Before this game, the Manchester United manager refused to guarantee that De Gea was an absolute main force, but now everyone knows that even if the boss does not admit it, De Gea has become the best candidate for the No. 1 position of Manchester United.