Solskjaer defends de Gea following Chelsea blunder

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has defended goalkeeper David de Gea after the Spanish international committed yet another blunder in his side’s crunch Premier League clash with Chelsea on Sunday.

Juan Mata opened the scoring to give the Red Devils the lead and hope for the top four. De Gea, however, committed a howler on the verge of half-time, which allowed Marcos Alonso to score the equaliser. The game finished 1-1 after a nervy second stanza.

As quoted by The Irish Times, Solskjaer defended the 28-year-old at full-time, saying: “He’s been in the spotlight for the right reasons for so long, now he’s going through a period where he probably feels he could have done better.

“I don’t have any worries about him because he’s a strong character. Of course, I’ll sit down and speak to David as I’ve done when he’s played well. But he’s not the reason why we’re in the sixth position at the moment.

“You cannot say there is any complacency, David is not the type to sit down and be complacent. He is a competitor and he wants to be the best.”

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There have been increasing calls recently for the Red Devils to drop the De Gea and replace him with number two Sergio Romero. The error is de Gea’s third in recent weeks after his mishaps against Barcelona in the Champions League and Manchester City in a Premier League encounter.

There is no doubting that De Gea is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. However, there is also no denying that United’s second choice Romero is also a world-class stopper who is capable of handling the demands of the Premier League.

United’s quest to secure a Champions League berth is out of their hands now, so it may make sense to give Romero the nod for the Red Devils’ next game in order to allow De Gea an opportunity to have a break and regroup. He may just be tired following a season in which he has been ever-present in goal.