As the season draws to a dramatic climax and we enter ‘squeaky bum time’, the talk of who will be this campaign’s footballer of the year begins. In truth, the 2014/15 season hasn’t produced many outstanding candidates. Throughout the previous seven months we have seen some wonderful individual performances – Mata against Liverpool surely being the most prominent – but few players have shone over the entire campaign.
The six man shortlist drawn up by Robbie Savage on the BBC website is made up of talented individuals who, on occasion, have proven to be world beaters but lack the consistency to maintain such a standard as we’ve come to expect from previous incumbents of the ‘Footballer of the Year’ award. When you look at the names who have adorned the position in recent years – Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale to name but a few – then this years’ elite appears lacking in such quality and consistency. Last season’s winner Luis Suarez, for all his faults, had a year of such consistent high quality that there was no doubting his claiming of the award. This year however the award is more open and anyone can feasibly win it.
The award should go to one man, David de Gea. The Spanish goalkeeper has managed to improve his game to an incredible level, even surpassing his heroics of the previous season. His gradual yet obvious improvement since he arrived as a precocious but vulnerable talent from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2011 has been spectacular. Following an opening few months highlighted by blunders, de Gea has pushed himself to improve and become not only the best goalkeeper in Britain but arguably the world. Not many would have called that back in 2011/12.
What impresses me most with de Gea is how he has turned his weaknesses – commanding his box and his presence at set pieces – into strengths that complement the rest of his game. In an unforgiving climate, he has adapted quickly to ensure he didn’t fall by the wayside and become another goalkeeping flop. He’s gone from Massimo Taibi comparisons to being held alongside Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar, two completely different characters who shared a world class ability between the posts. Not in my lifetime have I seen a pair of goalkeepers as brilliant as those two. De Gea is different to them, he’s his own man and I am confident that in the future we will be holding him in such esteemed company as his illustrious predecessors, but he shares the exceptional qualities of both. In temperament he is similar to van der Sar, and as graceful, but in shot stopping and one-on-one situations he is comparable to Schmeichel. In his relatively short career at United, video producers can put together a rather incredible collection of saves from de Gea.
The save that always stands out for me, and put him on the pedestal of greatness, was his wonderful stop last season against Luis Suarez at Old Trafford. Already 3-0 down, Suarez being put through looked to be adding to the humiliation of another defeat in a difficult season. The controversial Uruguayan scoring a fourth would have been the epitome of our fall from greatness and most difficult to take. But de Gea in a spectacular fashion, that we have now become accustomed to, made a truly superb save when one-on-one with arguably the finest striker in Britain at the time. It may have only prevented a slightly more gut-wrenching defeat but it was proof of de Gea’s rise to prominence in the art of goalkeeping and his importance to Manchester United. If United were playing monopoly then de Gea held the get-out-of-jail card.
From saving us from an even worse fate last season, the 2014/15 campaign of Louis van Gaal’s United, de Gea has kept us in the race for the fabled top four positions. His willingness and determination to improve, under yet another goalkeeping coach, has seen him produce world class performances week in, week out and in the view of many surpass Manuel Neuer as the best goalkeeper in the world. Still only 24-years-old, it is scary to think what de Gea could achieve going forward.
When you compare him to the other players shortlisted by Savage for ‘Player of the Year’, none can stand alongside him. You could argue that a couple of them are world class but they lack the consistency that de Gea has shown. My worry is that because he is goalkeeper – and not since Neville Southall in 1985 has a man between the posts won the award – he will be overlooked and the prize given to a more obvious position such as a forward. A striker may score you match winning goals but just as importantly a top goalkeeper will make match winning saves. And how many times has David de Gea done that this season? Diego Costa is a fine goalscorer and has an impressive scoring tally but is he comparable to de Gea in ability? Costa is a rung below world class. His Chelsea teammate Eden Hazard is fast becoming world class but, perhaps to the sometimes pedestrian nature of this Chelsea side, he fails to show his obvious ability every week.
Other contenders include Alexis Sanchez, Phillipe Coutinho and Harry Kane. Sanchez has been a revelation and finally Arsenal have a world class forward not seen since the likes of Henry and Bergkamp. But in recent weeks the Chilean has been subdued, the pace and intensity of the English league catching up with his tired legs. For me though, if de Gea (unjustly) doesn’t win the award, then it should go to Sanchez. Out of an inconsistent bunch, he is the best. Phillipe Coutinho’s inclusion on the list is one that baffles me. I’m not denying he has talent but performing in a handful of games a season doesn’t warrant a place among the league’s best. The Brazilian goes missing all too often- he was practically non-existent against United- and if he is on the list then the likes of Nacer Chadli and our own Angel Di Maria should be included. Di Maria has scored as many goals and made more assists yet the attitude toward him and Coutinho are practically polar opposites.
Harry Kane has had a terrific season at Tottenham Hotspur and is rightly now on the path to becoming a regular in the national side. It looks as if Spurs have unearthed a gem of a player. But is the forward really at the same level as de Gea? We can all see his potential, he’s likeable, skilled and has a friendly nature but despite his impressive record he’s not quite world class. Yet.
David de Gea is sat among the world class players of today. He would walk into any team in world football. Chelsea may have Courtios, Bayern may have Neuer but neither would turn down the brilliant Spanish keeper. No wonder Real Madrid are mercilessly linked with him. Securing his future at the club would be the best signing Manchester United make this summer. De Gea winning the ‘Footballer of the Year’ accolade would be a fitting and wonderful tribute to the Premier League’s outstanding performer.
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