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Do Manchester United need to replace David de Gea as their first-choice goalkeeper?

Manchester United’s 4-0 defeat to Brentford in only the second game of the 2022/23 season prompted many to declare David de Gea’s time as an elite level goalkeeper over. The Spaniard was certainly at fault for United’s first goal in the embarrassing loss, but his role in the second goal was surely of even greater concern to Erik ten Hag.

With United’s central defenders split, Christian Eriksen showed for the ball from de Gea. The 32-year-old, however, was sloppy in his execution of the pass into the Danish midfielder who was immediately robbed of possession by a Brentford attack prepared to pounce on any lapse of concentration.

At that point, it seemed likely that de Gea would be replaced by Manchester United’s first-choice goalkeeper. However, the Spaniard made some subtle tweaks to his natural game and is now much quicker to come off his line, satisfying ten Hag’s demands – the Dutchman’s approach requires a proactive goalkeeper.

This still may not be enough to save de Gea’s career at the club. Recent reports claim Manchester United have delayed on their decision to trigger a one-year extension in the 32-year-old’s contract, giving themselves more time to make a call on de Gea’s long-term future. Alternatives are almost certainly being scouted.

“I think he has high demands for everyone, there is a lot of information,” de Gea said when asked to explain how ten Hag’s arrival at Manchester United has forced him to change his game. “We are used to playing under him because we are learning a lot of new things as a team. I think we are enjoying it, we are training really hard with him.”

De Gea is one of the best goalkeepers to have ever played in the Premier League, but he is somewhat outdated in his approach when compared to some of his contemporaries. Unlike Alisson Becker and Ederson, de Gea is uncomfortable with the ball at his feet and that restricts Manchester United in their efforts to construct moves from the back.

Diogo Costa has been linked with a transfer to Old Trafford following a series of impressive performances for Porto in the Champions League. The Portuguese international is renowned for his excellent distribution of the ball out from the back and would give Manchester United’s play in possession another dimension.

Dominik Livakovic has been mentioned more than once as a potential target after an excellent World Cup campaign for Croatia, but the 27-year-old of a similar mould to de Gea – his greatest strength is his shot-stopping ability. Livakovic is a good goalkeeper, but his signing wouldn’t solve the problem ten Hag has with de Gea.

Manchester United have been very fortunate with de Gea. They haven’t had to enter the transfer for a new first-choice goalkeeper since the retirement of Edwin van der Sar in 2011. De Gea might have endured a shaky start to life at Old Trafford, but he grew into a leader. He has more then earned his place in the pantheon of great United goalkeepers. He deserves to be remembered with fondness.

However, de Gea’s skill set just isn’t compatible with what ten Hag needs from his goalkeeper in the long-term. He might still be among the best at keeping the ball out of the back of the net, despite a number of errors in recent seasons, but Manchester United’s new Dutch coach is only concerned with that to a certain extent. Gone are the days when goalkeepers had just one job and de Gea could become a victim of this.