The goalie for Man United's 10 worst errors are on De Gea's reel of shame

The Spain international has served the Red Devils admirably, but he now runs the risk of being remembered more for his costly mistakes than for his saves.

By: Frenkie Tran

05/09/2023 05:01

On May 7, 2023, as David de Gea onto the pitch against West Ham, he became Manchester United's all-time leading custodian (540 appearances), passing Alex Stepney. After shutting out Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final, he also beat Peter Schmeichel's clean sheet record, aiding United in ending their six-year trophy drought.

That was the second League Cup trophy of De Gea's tenure at Old Trafford, but other than the Premier League, he has only collected three other medals since moving to the club from Atletico Madrid back in 2011. It is no accident that the Spaniard has played in goal for United throughout their most difficult stretch in the modern era.

De Gea's incredible reflexes and shot-stopping skills have helped the Red Devils win many games over the years, but those accomplishments are overshadowed by his frequent fits of insanity. Erik ten Hag's team began to worry about making it back to the Champions League after the 32-year-old's most recent bizarre error against the Hammers.

De Gea continually cost United in the biggest games under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal, David Moyes, and even Sir Alex Ferguson. It has already reached the point where a collection of his most perplexing errors would take longer to watch than one including his finest saves. BETIMATE has chosen the 10 worst mistakes of De Gea's Old Trafford tenure to date, with United allegedly still trying to tie him down to a new deal.

Man Utd 2-2 Benfica (Champions League, 2011-12)

De Gea was chosen by United before the 2011–12 season to replace the legendary Edwin van der Sar and cost £19 million to acquire from Atletico. De Gea's first season in English football proved to be challenging as the Red Devils went without a trophy for the first time since the 2004–05 season.

Despite making high-profile errors against Manchester City in the Community Shield final and West Brom in the league, De Gea's lowest moment was on the grandest platform in Europe. In November, Benfica visited Old Trafford for a pivotal Champions League match that United needed to win in order to advance to the round of 16.

Ferguson was unable to do much but watch in shock as United was eventually held to a 2-2 draw

When Darren Fletcher scored just before the hour, the hosts looked poised to earn three points, but United's 2-1 advantage lasted just a minute. After a Phil Jones back-pass, which De Gea ought to have been able to handle with ease, came the game's pivotal moment.

But in one of the initial instances of the 'keeper's lack of technical skill with the ball at his feet, he mishit a first-time clearing and the ball dropped straight to Bruno Cesar on the outside of the box. The Benfica striker then charged into the box and sent a strong low cross that Rio Ferdinand diverted right into Pablo Aimar's path, who volleyed into an open goal.

Ferguson was unable to do much but watch in shock as United was eventually held to a 2-2 draw. His agony was made worse when his team lost their last group match in Basel, eliminating them from the competition. De Gea was also criticized for his performance in that game when he failed to stop Marco Streller's first goal.

Man Utd 2-1 Sunderland (League Cup, 2013-14)

After Ferguson left, United's first season was a dismal failure, and Moyes, who had been picked to succeed the iconic manager, had only been in charge for 10 months. Along the road, they put up a number of embarrassing displays, particularly against Sunderland in the second leg of their League Cup semifinal match.

When the Black Cats arrived at Old Trafford, they had a 2-1 aggregate advantage to defend. However, Jonny Evans tied the game in the 37th minute by converting a Danny Welbeck flick. The only goal in the opening 90 minutes turned out to be that one, but extra time produced a thrilling finish.

Former United defender Phil Bardsley got the ball around 20 yards from goal and fired. Penalties were about to be called. De Gea was faced with a feeble effort from Bardsley that he palmed into the goal after failing to get his body behind the ball. Javier Hernandez's equalizer in stoppage time temporarily saved De Gea's face, but United ultimately lost 2-1 on penalties. This was undoubtedly not the last time De Gea's handling failed him.

Bournemouth 2-1 Man Utd (Premier League, 2015-16)

As his second United season came to a halfway point, Van Gaal seemed to be in command of a strong title push. However, everything started to fall apart as De Gea was thoroughly embarrassed by Junior Stanislas in a shocking defeat at Bournemouth.

With only two minutes left in the game at the Vitality Stadium, the winger whipped in a corner from the left with plenty of height and speed. But the United No. 1 should have had no trouble grabbing the ball out of the air.

De Gea misjudged his location and it sailed over his head before settling in the far corner as it was. By the time he put out an arm to attempt to keep the ball out, it was already too late for him to start backpedaling. The game ended in a 2-1 defeat for United, the first in an unexpected three-match losing skid that also featured defeats to Norwich and Stoke City. As a result, their prospects of winning the Premier League were destroyed, and it all began when De Gea's obvious flaws were exposed.

Man Utd 2-2 Arsenal (Premier League, 2018-19)

By staying in charge of United for a third season, Mourinho outlasted Van Gaal, but his team was becoming worse and worse by the time Arsenal visited Old Trafford in December. Shkodran Mustafi was given a free header in the box, and he took it to score the game's first goal.

De Gea was prepared to make a simple catch when the German nodded the ball into the ground, where it bounced up pleasantly for him. But for some reason, he palmed the ball up, and despite Ander Hererra's best efforts to clear, it managed to sneak past the goal line.

Anthony Martial brought United back into the game until a second-half own goal by Marcos Rojo restored Arsenal's lead. Despite being caught off guard by Alexandre Lacazette's opening shot's deflection, De Gea could have performed better this time. After a mistake-filled performance, Jesse Lingard had the final word to guarantee that the prizes were shared, but United dropped to seventh in the standings, and Mourinho was fired a few weeks later.

Barcelona 3-0 Man Utd (Champions League, 2018-19)

The next matchup is one of the greatest mismatches in recent Champions League history: Lionel Messi vs. David De Gea. After a remarkable comeback victory against Paris Saint-Germain in the previous round, United still had chances of moving on despite losing the first leg of their quarterfinal at Old Trafford by a score of 1-0.

The Red Devils' hopes were shattered when Messi scored twice in the opening 20 minutes at Camp Nou. In order to score his first goal, the Argentinean nutmegged Fred on the right flank, then switched to his left foot before firing an unassailable effort just inside the far post.

That goal could not be attributed to De Gea, but Messi's second was unquestionably his fault. After grabbing a loose ball, he shot from the perimeter of the area again, but this time he didn't catch it cleanly, and the ball slowly made its way through to the goalkeeper down the center.

To the astonishment of Solskjaer on the sidelines, it somehow slipped under De Gea before slipping into the goal. Philippe Coutinho's breathtaking long-range goal completed a convincing victory for Barcelona, who were rewarded after attacking De Gea from every aspect during the whole 90 minutes.

Watford 2-0 Man Utd (Premier League, 2019-20)

After originally taking over as United manager on an interim basis in place of Mourinho, Solskjaer was given a permanent position, although his first full season in charge proved difficult. When his team arrived at Watford on December 22, they were already 24 points behind league leaders Liverpool and couldn't afford to lose any more games.

Dropped would turn out to be the day's buzzword. After a scoreless first half, Watford came out of the locker room with increased enthusiasm, and they were able to score when they won a free kick just inside of United's half. Ismaila Sarr tried an aggressive first-time volley after the initial delivery was deflected after being knocked down 10 yards from the goal. His poor shot bounced right into De Gea's palms, but he lost focus for a critical fraction of a second.

To Sarr's great satisfaction, the ball passed between De Gea's arms, rebounded against his face, and then fell into the goal. The United shot-stopper knelt down on the pitch later to criticize himself for the distraction, but it was hard to feel sorry for him. In a spectacular 2-0 victory that saw Watford advance to eighth place in the standings, a Troy Deeney penalty increased their lead. De Gea was rapidly losing his credibility, and things were only about to get worse.

Everton 1-1 Man Utd (Premier League, 2019-20)

Under Solskjaer, United recovered to reemerge as top-four contenders, and they were full of confidence as they went to Goodison Park to play Everton on March 1. Within two minutes, they were brought back to reality as Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored one of his simplest goals ever. When Harry Maguire returned the ball to David De Gea from a free-kick, the Spanish custodian was alone.

However, De Gea dallied carelessly rather than moving the ball upfield immediately, allowing Calvert Lewin to shut him down. The Everton attacker and De Gea's goal were both directly hit when he finally booted the ball. United was able to tie the score thanks to a Bruno Fernandes goal, but they were eventually forced to lament De Gea's recklessness once more since they were unable to find a way to win.

Man Utd 1-3 Chelsea (FA Cup, 2019-20)

Finalizing a return to the Champions League, United advanced to three semi-finals in the 2019–20 season under Solskjaer's leadership. However, they failed to win any of them, including the FA Cup match against Chelsea.

After a ferociously contested first half at Wembley, the score remained tied until the 11th minute of stoppage time, when Eric Bailly suffered a head injury. After latching onto a Cesar Azpiliecueta pass, Olivier Giroud scored, although David De Gea might have done a lot more with the Frenchman's flicked finish.

After that, United's starting goalie let his guard down and committed an even bigger error shortly after the game resumed. Mason Mount received a sloppy ball from Brandon Williams, putting Solskjaer's team in trouble as Mount made his way to the penalty area for Chelsea.

Mount attempted to beat De Gea from 20 yards, and he didn't even need to strike the ball perfectly to do so. For United supporters, it was a scene that they were all too used to. De Gea had two hands on the ball when it was near to him, but it still escaped his grasp.

Brentford 4-0 Man Utd (Premier League, 2022-23)

Ten Hag has led United to make great advancements this season, but after signing from Ajax last summer, he could hardly have had a worse start. He lost his first game at home to Brighton, and a week later, Brentford destroyed his new club. After just 10 minutes, a De Gea blunder once more let the floodgates open. He let Josh Dasilva's weak long-range shot get under him, just as he frequently has in the past with similar attempts.

Eight minutes later, Mathias Jensen for Brentford made it 2-0; De Gea was responsible for getting Christian Eriksen into difficulty with an errant pass out. For Brentford's third goal, which Ben Mee nodded in after Bryan Mbeumo caused havoc with a corner kick from the right, he was similarly in a no man's land.

The 4-0 blowout was completed with a Mbeumo goal, which was a nice touch. When the Brentford star faced up against De Gea, whose attempts to shut him down were at best hesitant, there could only ever be one victor.

Sevilla 3-0 Man Utd (Europa League, 2022-23)

The nightmarish performance by De Gea against Sevilla in the second leg of United's Europa League quarterfinal matchup comes last but certainly not least. Due to injury, Ten Hag was forced to change his team at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium after the Red Devils squandered a two-goal lead in the first leg at Old Trafford. Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez were not present, thus Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof began in the center of the defensive. It became obvious they weren't up to the task within the first 10 minutes.

Maguire lost control well beyond his own box, and Youssef En-Nesyri scored to give Sevilla the lead. However, he was not helped by a needless pass from De Gea that placed him under immediate pressure. Minutes after halftime, as the hosts seized complete control of the match, Loic Bade beat United's No. 1 with a looping header.

In the second half, United made no offensive threats, but any slim dreams of a comeback were dashed when En-Nesyri netted his second goal in the 81st minute. De Gea, who rushed out of his area to attempt to control a high ball the first time, was of course the one who scored the goal.

De Gea mishandled it when it bounced, and it dropped sweetly to En-Nesyri, who scored from 35 yards out with the entire goal at his disposal. The United custodian was left with what felt like a million crimson faces as they were mercilessly defeated.

These types of incidents will keep happening as long as Ten Hag stands with De Gea. The Spain international has a very limited number of redeeming characteristics remaining after years of being unreliable. It will undoubtedly be necessary for United to make an investment in a new custodian if they are serious about getting back to the top of the league. One who is able to control the box, play out from the back, and block easy shots.

Click star to rate

5 (1 rating)

Written by: Frenkie Tran

My football predictions cover a variety of competitions and tournaments. In addition to English and European football, football predictions also include tips on games taking place in the USA, Australia, Africa, South America and beyond, from famous leagues such as the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga to popular national leagues such as Croatian First League and Portugal Primeira.