Manchester United has announced on the official website that Henderson will be loaned to Nottingham Forest , which means that Ten Hag has decided to let De Gea serve as the first goalkeeper in the new season. The Spanish goalkeeper found a new goalkeeper last season. After returning to form, Manchester United's goal battle has been ended. However, just as De Gea was unable to be selected for the Spanish national team due to his personal technical characteristics, there are still questions about whether De Gea can adapt to Ten Hag's tactical system.
In the recent training videos released by Manchester United, we saw that Manchester United's goalkeepers De Gea and Heaton began to participate in a large amount of ball control. However, it is not enough for the goalkeeper to participate in ball control. From the perspective of Ten Hag's recruitment ideas We can roughly see that Ten Hag needs to take on more functions in the new season, which requires Ten Hag to make certain changes.
needs to improve its ability to intercept crosses
According to current transfer rumors, Manchester United is close to signing Ajax central defender Lisandro . This central defender who is less than 180cm tall is fighting in the air defense. There is no advantage in this regard, which means that Manchester United's goalkeeper needs to improve his ability to intercept crosses.
De Gea's success rate in intercepting crosses last season was 3.9%, which was only higher than the 23% goalkeepers in the five major leagues. Never say that air defense has nothing to do with the goalkeeper. It is a matter for the central defender. In the penalty area, the goalkeeper has an advantage over the central defender in picking up high altitude, because the goalkeeper also has the length of his arms.
Since joining Manchester United, intercepting crosses has been one of De Gea's biggest shortcomings. In his first season with Manchester United, De Gea's success rate in intercepting crosses was 56%, which was criticized at the time. . It is unknown whether De Gea can improve now, but if Manchester United uses Lisandro as a central defender, then De Gea must improve his air defense capabilities.
needs to expand the defensive range and attack more
What matches the ability to intercept crosses is the attack range. In the new season, Ten Hag has adopted more ball-control tactics and high-position pressing tactics, which means that Ten Hag must expand his Defending coverage instead of sticking to the paint like last season. Last season, De Gea's attack range expanded in the second half, as shown in the picture below.
However, compared to , Manchester City , the goalkeeper repeatedly rushed out of the restricted area, which still seems very inadequate. Last season, the average number of attempts outside the penalty area was only 0.26 per game, lower than 95% of goalkeepers in the five major leagues. The average defensive distance is only 13.1 meters, which is only higher than 31% of goalkeepers in the five major leagues.
needs to be more involved in controlling the players
's ability to break the high pressure. The focus is still on the passing ability in the midfield and backfield. If a goalkeeper is involved in controlling the ball, it is equivalent to having one more person in the backcourt to control the players and one more person to run and respond, which is very important. Last season, De Gea averaged only 26 touches per game, which was lower than 99% of goalkeepers in the five major leagues. Ajax's goalkeeper averages 41.7 touches per game, almost twice as many times as De Gea.
De Gea should accommodate the team instead of letting the team accommodate himself
There is no doubt that De Gea is still a top goalkeeper with superb goal-line skills, but the current De Gea seems more suitable for squatting and defending. team, rather than a team that takes the initiative and uses high pressure. Since Ten Hag has chosen De Gea as his first choice, he has a certain degree of confidence in De Gea.
Then, De Gea should probably consider changing his personal style. As early as May, in an interview, De Gea admitted that there were problems with technical characteristics training. This problem had already appeared in the Atletico Madrid youth training camp, but with De Gea Heya wants to transform in her thirties, but is it too late? Come late or not, De Gea needs to prove he can be trusted.
