David De Gea Has Fulfilled His Potential at Manchester United in 2014

David de Gea was a young but relatively experienced goalkeeper when he joined Manchester United in the summer of 2011. He had already won the Europa League at Atletico Madrid when, four days prior to United announcing his transfer, he won the European U21 Championships as part of a gifted Spain side.

Sir Alex Ferguson recognised that De Gea was a promising talent and signed him on the basis that he could become one of the world’s best goalkeepers. At the end of 2014, three-and-a-half years after he left Madrid for Manchester, the Spaniard has fulfilled that potential.     

The nervy and anxious performances that marked his first season in the Premier League have long since passed. Noticeably more muscular and having fine-tuned his game, he has developed into an outstanding goalkeeper and become one of United’s most important players.

Some of the saves De Gea has made in 2014 have been extraordinarily good. In March, he prevented United from suffering the humiliation of being knocked out of the Champions League by Olympiakos. His double save in the first half of the second leg saw David Moyes’ side through to the quarter-finals just as much as Robin van Persie’s quickfire hat-trick did. Three days before that game, in a 3-0 defeat to Liverpool, he made an astonishing save to deny Luis Suarez in a one-on-one situation.

On both occasions, he had no right to keep the ball out of the net, but his reflexes enabled him to do just that. What’s noteworthy about the two aforementioned examples is that United won one game and lost the other. In what has been a miserable year for the club, De Gea has been the only player to perform at his highest level regardless of whether his side won, lost or drew.

It was therefore unsurprising when he was named the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year at United’s annual awards ceremony in May.

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A month later, he headed to the World Cup in Brazil but watched on as Iker Casillas and Pepe Reina played in Spain’s only three games at the tournament. There are few finer goalkeepers than De Gea in world football right now, and Casillas and Reina are certainly not among them.

The feeling that he was unlucky in being third choice only grew stronger when Casillas’ weak punch gifted Chile a crucial two-goal lead that in turn ended Spain’s chances of progressing to the knockout stages.

Since the World Cup, Vicente del Bosque has handed De Gea his first competitive start for Spain, although his decision was made somewhat easier following another Casillas mistake in a Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovakia.  

A dislocated finger prevented the United No. 1 from adding to the clean sheet he kept in a 4-0 win against Luxembourg but establishing himself in the Spain setup can go down as one of his more significant achievements in 2014.

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If De Gea was good in the first half of the year, he’s been on another level in the second half of the year. There’s no question that Louis van Gaal’s new-look United would be significantly worse off were it not for the Spaniard’s efforts in goal.

His display against Everton was one of the standout performances from any player in the league so far this season. He became the first goalkeeper to save a Leighton Baines penalty in the Premier League and made two stunning saves late on to ensure United picked up the win.

De Gea was unsurprisingly named United’s Player of the Month for October on the back of that performance. Further excellent saves in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea, particularly from Eden Hazard and Didier Drogba's attempts on goal, ensured that he picked up an incredible 70 percent of the votes.

In November, he was United’s best player in games against Manchester City and Arsenal, keeping clean sheets in the other two matches. He was again named United’s Player of the Month, an award which he has now won more than any other player since joining the club in 2011.

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In 2014, De Gea has been United’s most in-form player. It would not be knee-jerk to suggest that he’s also now the club's best player. Wayne Rooney has the all-round ability and Angel Di Maria can do things other players simply can’t, but De Gea’s performances are unerringly consistent.

Off the pitch, he appears to be settled in Manchester. He now conducts his interviews in English and lives within 100 metres of close friends Juan Mata and Ander Herrera, which the former explained in an interview with El Pais (via JuanMata8.com). His popularity continues to grow among United fans, and he is perhaps the fan favourite in Van Gaal’s squad right now.

This year, De Gea has reached new heights. That’s certainly the view held by many in the United camp, and one that Herrera expressed recently in an interview with the club’s website.

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He [De Gea] has been fantastic and is one of the best players in the world at 24 years old. He wants to help the team get to the top of the league, like me, like everyone. We feel he can become one of the best if not the best goalkeeper in the world.

"

When De Gea arrived at United, he made a number of mistakes in his first few games and struggled to be a commanding presence in goal. Perhaps it was only natural given that he was just 20 years old.

Now, having recently turned 24, he’s the one player Van Gaal doesn’t have to worry about as United look forward to 2015.

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