David De Gea: Technique that makes Manchester United goalkeeper world’s best at saving with his feet
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David Preece, former goalkeeper and goalkeeping coach
January 14 2019, 5:00pm, The Times
De Gea’s performance against Spurs was full of fine saves, many of which were with his feet
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David De Gea
produced 95 minutes of goalkeeping perfection on Sunday at Wembley, staying calm and composed despite the onslaught from Tottenham Hotspur in the second half. It was a faultless performance that has gone some way to restoring the Manchester United goalkeeper’s stellar reputation after critics had questioned his displays over the past year.
In isolation some of his 11 saves could be described as routine, and ones that you would expect a Premier League goalkeeper to make, but that overlooks the manner in which he kept his concentration for so long and was in the perfect position each time to stop Harry Kane and Spurs. Technically, he was flawless.
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The more that Spurs put pressure on De Gea and the United defence, the higher his confidence soared, and he was more than a match for any of the home side’s shots on target. De Gea excels in this type of situation, similarly to Jan Oblak, of Atlético Madrid. They are both goalkeepers who are exceptional shot-stoppers and who play deep towards their goal line.
That is not to say they could not play effectively in a team managed by Pep Guardiola or Jürgen Klopp, where there is plenty of emphasis on distribution, but De Gea and Oblak are both with clubs where their main responsibilities are those you would traditionally associate with a goalkeeper: stopping shots, dealing with crosses and simple distribution.
De Gea and Oblak are different to goalkeepers such as Ederson, of Manchester City, or Liverpool’s Alisson, in the same way that a predatory Sergio Agüero, of City, is a completely different striker to a more all-round type of forward such as Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski. It is all about being the right fit for their respective team.
The United goalkeeper, 28, has become a master of playing deep in his goal, which allows him extra time to see and respond to shots but he has also become a master of patience, illustrated perfectly in his one-on-one situation against the Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli. It was a game of who-blinks-first that the Spaniard won after putting pressure on the attacking player by standing up as late as possible so as to not give away any advantage.
What stood out most, as it often does, was De Gea’s use of his feet to block shots that were fired low towards goal. That’s what goalkeeping is about; efficient movements and effective actions. De Gea makes saves with his feet from an unnatural stance — with his legs spread wide apart — because he is able to reach the ball quicker with his feet than he could with his hands. The ball can also be deflected farther away from immediate danger with his feet than if he had made the save with his hand.
De Gea’s save from Alderweireld - again with his feet - was arguably his best of the matchClive Rose/Getty Images
Taking up a traditional set position when dealing with shots from mid-range of eight to 18 yards away, goalkeepers are taught to keep their feet shoulder-width apart, perhaps a little wider, so they can move their feet and still react to low shots with their hands. But the theory is changing on this. A wide stance with legs far apart, as De Gea often adopts, allows him to shift his weight to his heels and use his feet more readily to meet balls that most goalkeepers would try to go for with their hands. In turn, this allows him to keep his hands in a higher position ready for shots that are above waist height and not worry about using them to get down low as his feet have got that area of the goal covered.
A prime example of this is how the Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris reacted in the build-up to Marcus Rashford’s winning goal on Sunday. It was a great finish but Lloris’s hurried positioning was slightly too far forward and a step too far beyond his near post. The Frenchman’s feet were too narrow, so when he did eventually dive he had to take a jump out of that narrow set position before he could dive to try to stop Rashford’s low strike. It was inefficient movement and ineffectual action.
As with many elite goalkeepers, De Gea’s calmness of mind is his biggest strength and allows him to make the right decisions and take up the best positions. This is perfectly illustrated in two situations: the save at his near post with his feet to stop Toby Alderweireld, the Tottenham centre back, and his final decisive intervention in the match which was to come and punch away a cross deep into stoppage time. That second one deserved more praise than it received and was as important as any of his saves.
I can understand the reaction of those who say that De Gea was only doing what is expected of him but do strikers worry if their goals are scored from one yard or 20? No, and goalkeepers don’t worry about how they save the ball either.
