Manchester United: Red Devils' Overreliance on David De Gea Is Worrying

David De Gea is having a fantastic season; no one can really deny that.

However, oftentimes compliments and praises can be backhanded, or include caveats. For instance, Alexis Sanchez and Harry Kane are having great seasons, but critics might say that Arsenal and Tottenham, respectively, rely on them too much.

"Too much" is a matter of opinion, but stats from WhoScored.com do show that Sanchez and Kane have been involved in 25 percent and 35 percent of their team's goals, respectively.

Now, De Gea obviously isn't putting up absurd goal or assist numbers to grab headlines, so it's possible that his influence on the team becomes understated at times.

But with De Gea's steady form, and most of the outfield players struggling mightily, United are legitimately moving towards "one-man team" territory.

In his fourth season at United, De Gea has completed his maturation into a truly elite goalkeeper. Per NBC Sports, he has the league's third-lowest average goals allowed (0.93) and has saved about three-quarters of the shots he's faced, which is second-best in the league.

Meanwhile, with the departures of Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand, United have looked aimless defensively, without any leadership. Antonio Valencia can only do so much as a makeshift full-back; Marcos Rojo is still adjusting to life in the EPL; and Chris Smalling, Jonny Evans and Phil Jones have all had their share of blunders.

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Thus, De Gea's nine clean sheets and overall strong form has truly come with little help from his back line.

The Spaniard made six saves against Arsenal in the FA Cup, including a fine save to deny a Santi Cazorla volley. Yet, his teammates doomed him once again, as Nacho Monreal slotted home in acres of space, and Antonio Valencia later gifted Danny Welbeck the winner.

Sure, there have been times when De Gea's efforts have been enough to cover up the blemishes of his teammates. An injury-time save against Stoke in December led to a chaotic and maybe lucky win, while his stellar play against Liverpool to deny Raheem Sterling on multiple occasions gave the Red Devils a 3-0 scoreline that was hypocritical of their actual play.

De Gea's performances in these matches, and many others, truly raises the question of how poorly United would be doing without him.

Obviously, they would lose a stellar presence in the net, with wins turning into ties and ties into losses. But a mediocre defense shielding a less talented keeper isn't the only reason United would struggle.

United, at least at the moment, simply do not have the firepower going forward to allow them to outscore teams in high-scoring affairs, and an XI without De Gea would certainly put more responsibility on the flailing attack. 

The Red Devils have only scored five goals in their last four appearances across all competitions and often rely on De Gea to see them through close, low-scoring matches.

With Iker Casillas' dropping form over at Real Madrid, the possibility of De Gea trading red for white this summer is increasing, per James Robson of the Manchester Evening News.

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If De Gea does leave over the summer, the aforementioned team, theoretically offensively and defensively challenged and without a world-class goalie, could very well come to fruition.

At this point it is arguable that De Gea means as much to United as Luis Suarez did to Liverpool last season.

United's Merseyside rivals sold Suarez to Barcelona in the summer and struggled for form in the first half of the season, before a change in shape and style has caused a recent uptick.

If United's No. 1 leaves for Madrid, Red Devils fans shouldn't be surprised by a similar adjustment period. 

In fact, while Suarez's quality has proved to be replaceable to a degree with Liverpool's change in system, there isn't really a way for United to smooth over a loss at goalkeeper.

Whoever they would put in goal would likely not be as good as De Gea, and United would see their defensive issues punished far more frequently if they are not fixed by next season.

For now, De Gea is keeping United in top-four contention almost all by himself.

It's time for the rest of the team to step up.

Stats and info via ESPNFC, NBC Sports and WhoScored.com