De Geas passing is a problem for Man Utd

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David de Gea is not a new problem for Manchester United. Of course, his backers and that appears to include many people at the club will always point to his shot-stopping ability, which has clearly been a strengthover the course of his career in England.We cant forget that legendary performance Adrian Colbert Jersey against Arsenal in a 3-1 away win for United in the 2017-18 season, when De Gea equalled a Premier League record by making 14 saves.But if that kind of goalkeeper becomes le s reliable at arguably the one thing theyre good at, questions have to be asked. De Gea was, of course, culpable in Uniteds 4-0 humiliation by Brentford on Saturday.He let Josh Dasilvas tame long-range effort sneak into the bottom-right corner, and that opened the floodgates on what was one of Uniteds worst days in Premier League history.But that wasnt all. His needle s pa s to Christian Eriksen when the Dane was under pre sure brought the second goal and further highlighted something De Geas detractors have started to mention frequently in the past few years: hes not good enough with the ball to be relied upon in a team that wants to build from the back.Thats the style of play Erik ten Hag wants to impose, yet De Gea appears to be far from the ideal candidate. Granted, the need to make saves will always be important for a goalkeeper, and the Spaniards record of 2.8 goals prevented last season was second only to Jose Sa (8.5) in the Premier League.But goalkeepers have become more and more important in the implementation of po se sion-based football over the past decade, and the longer you have the ball, the fewer opportunities the opponent has to score for example, the three teams with the greatest shares of po se sion last term also faced the fewest shots.So, if De Gea who last season only completed 69 per cent of his pa ses is not suitable, which goalkeepers are? Stats Perform takes a look at the Opta data of the more realistic potential targetsKEYLOR NAVASIf United were able to sign Navas, theres lots to suggest it would be a very shrewd acquisition.Although the Costa Rican is 35, stylistically the Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper does appear to be a good fit for a team that wants to build from the back.Over the past three seasons DeForest Buckner Jersey , Navas 89.9 per cent pa s completion rate last termis the highest by any goalkeeper (minimum 1,000 minutes played) in a single campaign acro s the top five leagues. He posted that figure as he and Gianluigi Donnarumma tu sled for the starting role.The season before he found a team-mate with 85.7 per cent of his pa ses, while in both campaigns he showed hewas dependable when facing shots, recording 80.4 and 76.9 save percentages respectively the former was the best such record of any keeper (min. 1,000 minutes played) over the past three campaigns.When you consider PSG are seemingly willing to sell, with a move to Napoli apparently in the works, this could be a wonderful opportunity for United.MARC-ANDRE TER STEGENThis might seem a slightly unrealistic option initially, but Ter Stegen certainly shouldnt be seen as unattainable.While Ter Stegen has rarely been suggested as a likely option for Barcelona to raise funds, he does still retain reasonable value and his sale would ease salary limit concerns lets not forget, the Frenkie de Jong saga may be murky, but the Blaugrana need money.As for his suitability to Ten Hags brand of football, Ter Stegens e sentially been playing that Colin Kaepernick Jersey way throughout his time at Barcelona. In each of the past three seasons, he has recorded a pa s completion percentage of over 85 per cent no other goalkeeper acro s the big five leagues can match that.The concern, however, is his shot-stopping capabilities. In the three seasons mentioned he has, Opta data says, conceded more goals than the average goalkeeper would have expected to based on the quality of chances faced, Frank Gore Jersey and his save percentage figures for the three campaigns (68.8, 69 and 70.4) arent much better than the average for the keepers in question (67.4 per cent).WOJCIECH SZCZESNYPoland international Szczesny may not be remembered especially fondly in the Premier League as he failed to live up to early promise at Arsenal.But in Serie A hes carved out a fine career for himself. First, he kept Ali son out of the Roma team, and then he went on to become Juventus chosen one to replace Gianluigi Buffon.He isnt perfect, but again he is a goalkeeper with decent pa sing stats. His accuracy (79.4 per cent) last season was, admittedly, his worst record out of the past three campaigns, but in 2020-21 he was at 89.1.Szczesnys save percentages over the period in question range from 68 to 74.4, which are reasonable without being spectacular, though he prevented 5.1 goals in 2019-20 and 2.3 last term. Both are fine records.ILLAN MESLIERObviously, a goalkeepers statistics are very often a reflection of the team they play in and the players around them. Just because a keeper has an excellent pa sing accuracy in one side doesnt mean they will in another, or vice versa.Meslier is a keeper United are said to have been long-term admirers of, and in the data search that identified Navas, Szczesny and Ter Stegen as suitable, the Frenchman is one of precious few under the age of 23 who could fit the bill long term.The 22-year-old hasnt played behind an especially effective defence since coming into the Premier League with Leeds United, but in the 2020-21 season he recorded a 72.6 save percentage and a reasonable pa sing accuracy of 77.1 per cent.Granted, both were significantly poorer in 2021 Kwon Alexander Jersey -22 and he endured a disappointing season individually letting in 15.8 goals more than expected, the fifth-worst in Europes top league that will have raised some doubts, but he has shown potential in a Leeds team that is known for being chaotic.Hed be a gamble, but at this point it could be argued United need as much change as po sible.