David de Gea produced an absolute howler at Vicarage Road as United lost to Watford.
The Spaniard somehow allowed a weak effort to squirm through his fingers at the near post and gift Watford the lead.
It was an embarrassing moment, and it cost United the game. Minutes later a penalty was conceded and he didn’t get near to redeeming himself.
Errors like this used to be a complete rarity from De Gea. They are still eyebrow-raising, but not exactly surprising.
His inconsistency is at odds with the recent stellar showings from back-up Sergio Romero.
Romero has a great record when he comes in. He has kept a clean sheet in all four of his Europa League appearances this season.
In 51 games for United, Romero has 32 clean sheets – a remarkable tally.
In the Premier League, De Ge has not kept a clean sheet since early September.
It would be a big, big call from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to take David de Gea out of the starting line up for Premier League games.
The way the Spaniard is playing, a potential decision to switch goalkeepers becomes a talking point.
There is no real rhyme or reason to De Gea’s errors, and that makes it a tough problem to solve.
Bringing in Romero for a run of matches could force him to buck his ideas up and act as a shock to the system – or knock his confidence and cause him to get worse.
Used almost exclusively as a cup goalkeeper, Romero has only made seven Premier League starts for United. The last was in May 2018 – a 1-0 win over Watford.
Calls for Romero
De Gea’s fans has prompted increased calls for Romero to be brought in.
Here is a look at some of the comments on social media…
- Forget Mainoo, another Man Utd star with zero minutes in this World Cup is actually a big winner
- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s vision for Man Utd could have peaked in 2026, there’s a lesson
- Man Utd learned one thing each from Portugal vs Spain and USA vs Belgium, boost to Michael Carrick
- One of Real Madrid’s two top midfielder targets to replace Aurelien Tchouameni will really help Man Utd
- How Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot performed for Portugal vs Spain, Man Utd duo knocked out
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