David de Gea: Last season was embarrassing but intense Erik ten Hag has given us hope

“Something is wrong if that happens,” Mourinho said in 2018. “Yep,” De Gea says, nodding his head when reminded of the former United manager’s words. “I love to win the award, but I’d prefer it if a striker or a midfielder won it.”

Eleven years since arriving from Atletico Madrid, the Spaniard has won as many player of the year awards (four) as team trophies. One of the best goalkeepers in the world over the past decade has only one Premier League, one FA Cup, one Carabao Cup and a single Europa League to show for his excellence.

De Gea, 31, should have probably won the player of the year award last season but he was pipped at the post by Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 24 goals. United cancelled their awards night at Old Trafford because they were so embarrassed at their sixth-place finish, and one suspects that De Gea agreed with the decision.

“Last season was a disaster,” he said. “It was the worst season I’ve had at the club. I was embarrassed sometimes. Some games were a mess, it was painful. To lose by four or five goals is unacceptable.”

The last point refers to the fact that United conceded four or more goals in six league games last season, including defeats by Leicester City, Brighton & Hove Albion and the eventually relegated Watford.

De Gea pulls no punches as he speaks to the national press in a beige room at a hotel in Perth, where United play the final game of their pre-season tour, against Aston Villa, today (Saturday). One senses that he is speaking so freely for two reasons: first, he wants supporters to know that last year was painful for him and his teammates. Second, he wants to assure them that there will be no repeat this year under Erik ten Hag, the new manager.

Each time De Gea speaks about the horrors of the previous campaign, he ends the sentence with: “That can’t happen again this year.”

The goalkeeper, who has made 486 appearances for United, knows better than most that it is possible to get through a sticky patch and rediscover your best form. His 2019-20 campaign was littered with errors. The season after, he was lambasted by sections of the United fanbase for failing to score a sudden-death penalty in the Europa League final defeat by Villarreal, having failed to stop any of the Spanish side’s spot kicks.

As he left the stadium in Gdansk, Sir Alex Ferguson put his arm around the goalkeeper. “He [Ferguson] said: ‘Sometimes life is like this, it’s a penalty, that’s it, keep working and next season show your best,’ ” De Gea said. “It was a bit strange to have to take the penalty, but that happens in football sometimes.”

Had history taken a different course, De Gea would have been spending the summer celebrating Real Madrid’s 14th Champions League triumph. Does he ever think about what might have been, had that fax machine not broken just as it was sending the relevant paperwork over to the Bernabeu in the final minutes of the 2015 summer transfer window?

“No,” he says firmly. “I don’t mind saying that. I’m just thinking about Manchester. It’s my home. It’s an honour to be at this club.”

Indeed, De Gea wants to spend the rest of his career at United. His present pounds 375,000-a-week contract has one year left to run – with an option to extend it by one season – but he is happy to begin talks over a new deal.

“I didn’t talk with anyone [about a new contract] yet but of course, I would be really happy to be here for as long as they want me,” he said.

When asked whether he would like to finish his career at the club, De Gea said: “Yes, if it’s possible, of course. I’m really comfortable here. I’m really happy and hopefully before I leave we can win something.

“You want to win one or two or three titles, to try to fight for the Champions League and the cups.”

When De Gea arrived at United in 2011, the dressing room was blessed with talent, but also players who had an elite mentality. The likes of Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs shared Ferguson’s mindset. They were restless unless they were competing for the biggest trophies.

Conversely, the dressing room last season seemed content with mediocrity, and De Gea admits that standards slipped. “We needed a better culture of football,” he said. “We needed to be just thinking about football, nothing else. I hope everyone reflects [on the previous campaign]. I think many things have to change.”

United responded by installing the 52-year-old Ten Hag, a disciplinarian, and he has not been afraid to chastise his players if they are late or if they do not follow his instructions in training. Zidane Iqbal, the 19-year-old midfielder, was the latest player to receive a tongue-lashing from the manager. During Thursday’s training session at the Waca, Ten Hag shouted “f---ing rubbish” towards Iqbal after he gave the ball away.

“The new manager is intense,” De Gea said. “He is very focused on football, on what he needs, so I have good feelings [about this season].

“You cannot be late for training, we cannot be late for the meetings. That’s life – you have to be on time and professional.”

Despite De Gea’s impressive form last season, he is by no means bulletproof. Dean Henderson, his main rival, has been allowed to join Nottingham Forest, but only on loan. The 25-year-old England international will return to Old Trafford next season and could still dislodge De Gea because of his superior ability with his feet.

De Gea is a better shot-stopper than Henderson, but there is still room for improvement in his passing, which may become an issue as Ten Hag wants United to play the ball out from the back with speed.

One of the reasons that Luis Enrique dropped De Gea from the Spain squad was because he was not happy with his passing, but the goalkeeper takes umbrage at those who say that he is not good enough with the ball at his feet.

“I showed already that I can do it,” he said. “If you watch my games with the national team or when we played with Sir Alex at the beginning, you could see it. I don’t need to prove it to anyone. I’ve been playing that way for many years.”

– The Times

Erik ten Hag: When Harry Maguire performs the boos will stop

Erik ten Hag has told Harry Maguire that he must rediscover his best form if he is to stop Manchester United fans booing him.

Maguire was booed on 18 separate occasions by United supporters in the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Last season, some United fans at Old Trafford cheered when Maguire was replaced by Juan Mata in the Champions League last 16 match against Atletico Madrid. Those fans were unhappy with his form last season. He was booed in England’s match against Ivory Coast in March for the same reason.

“The team and Harry himself can stop it [the booing] by performing,” Ten Hag, the United manager, said.

“That’s what we are working on. That is the only focus. We heard [the boos] but we saw [that] if you perform it [the criticism] slows down and I think he, Harry Maguire, and the team, impressed by the way they played. Then it stopped.”

Ten Hag gave Maguire’s spirits a lift earlier a couple of weeks ago when he confirmed that the defender would retain the United captaincy even though some supporters were advocating that Bruno Fernandes or Cristiano Ronaldo should skipper the side instead.

Some of the 5,000 fans who watched an open training session in Perth on Thursday chanted Maguire’s name in a show of support for the 29-year-old centre back, who joined the club in an £85 million transfer from Leicester City three years ago.

It remains to be seen whether he will get a similar reception on Saturday when United play Aston Villa in front of a full house at the 60,000-capacity Optus Stadium in Perth.

It is the last match of a four-game tour of Thailand and Australia. United have recorded impressive wins over Liverpool, Melbourne Victory and Palace so far, but Ten Hag warned that his team could struggle in the Premier League this season unless they sign another forward in the transfer window.

One of the representatives of Antony, the Ajax winger, is understood to be in Manchester this week. The Dutch club are demanding £68 million for the Brazilian.

“Because of the number of games this season, you need more options in offence,” Ten Hag said. “I think it’s vital [to sign another forward] if you want to get success. The season is really long. But we also still have time [to sign someone].”

Ten Hag admitted that other clubs, like Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, who have done their business early in the transfer window, are one step ahead of United.

“It is definitely an advantage,” he said.

“We are not in that situation. Then you have to deal with that situation, you have to develop the team with the players you have. We have a good team, but we need a good squad to get the right results at the end of the season.”

That said, Ten Hag is happy with the recruitment of Christian Eriksen, Tyrell Malacia and Lisandro Martínez.

“I think they can quite quickly integrate into the team,” he said.

Ten Hag said he did not know if Cristiano Ronaldo would be reporting to United’s Carrington training ground next week when the squad return from Australia. The Portuguese forward has been absent from the two and a half week tour due to family reasons. Ronaldo wants to leave the club, but Ten Hag is still insistent that the 37-year-old will stay.

“I cannot wait for him to come in, then we will integrate him,” Ten Hag said.

– The Times

Originally published as David de Gea: Last season was embarrassing but intense Erik ten Hag has given us hope