De Gea sails through test of character
The spotlight was placed firmly on the 20-year-old Spaniard for the visit to Stoke, by general consensus one of the most effective set-piece teams in the Premier League.
After all, after high-profile errors earlier in the season against Manchester City and West Brom, De Gea would surely find himself targeted by the home side and, in particular, the long throw-ins of Rory Delap.
By the end of 90 pulsating minutes, it was fair to say the De Gea had come through his examination impressively.
From the first minute, when Delap launched one of his implausibly long catapult throws into the United area which the goalkeeper did enough to palm away, De Gea was equal to everything thrown at him.
That included magnificent saves from Andy Wilkinson, Jonathan Walters and Stoke’s goalscorer Peter Crouch, which underlined de Gea’s reputation as a shot stopper of the highest calibre.
“He did fantastic, but he has been performing fantastic anyway,” said Darren Fletcher, the United midfielder. “We showed him plenty of videos and there was a lot of preparation going into the game, showing him what to expect. But it didn’t faze him and he stood up to the challenge.
“Stoke are a big, physical side, with a lot of players over six foot and, on the whole, a lot of players stood up to that and did really well.
“I don’t think you get much more physical games than away to Stoke. They bombard you with balls into the box, set-pieces and corners, but he dealt with it well and he will take a lot of confidence from that performance, which was a bit of a welcome to English football.
“When you are well prepared like we are and do a lot of work on the training ground, then you have to come here and enjoy the battle, relish it and stand up to them.”
Ferguson revealed, in the build up to the Britannia visit, that his coaching staff had spent time with De Gea analysing the positional tactics that his predecessor Edwin van der Sar had adopted for games against Stoke. The extra homework certainly paid dividends and, after a fairly uncomfortable introduction to English football, De Gea should have silenced the critics, for now at least.
“De Gea made a great save in the first half and later on in the first half, tipping around the post,” said his manager. “He was very confident, nothing disturbs him, terrific composure, he just sailed through the game really.”
Even though he did eventually concede a set-piece, De Gea could not be faulted for Stoke’s equaliser, Crouch heading in his first goal for his club from close range afterlosing Phil Jones and Rio Ferdinand at Matthew Etherington’s second-half corner.
The goal cancelled out a superb opener from Nani, who exchanged passes with Fletcher before beating Asmir Begovic from just inside the area.
After victory for Manchester City earlier in the day, the point was sufficient to lift United back into first place, although only on goal difference.
However, given Stoke’s eye-catching start to the season, and the difficulties encountered by Chelsea and Liverpool at the Britannia, United were quietly content with the result.
“I think it was [a good result] when you consider the games that Stoke have had here this season,” said Fletcher.
“Liverpool and Chelsea have come here and not won, but with us being in a winning position and losing a goal from a set-piece, we’re disappointed. We gave away a few more set-pieces than we would have wanted to do and ultimately it has cost us.”
For Stoke, who had lost all six of their previous Premier League meetings with United, the result, also, could be interpreted as definite progress and there was no disguising the home side’s satisfaction at the point and the manner in which they earned it, particularly with Crouch looking as though he was specifically engineered to fit into his new club’s system.
“To get a point off the champions is never a bad result — we’ve struggled against them in the past, and the way they had been playing this season makes it even more special,” said defender Ryan Shawcross. “We brought Peter Crouch here to score goals and he’s already started delivering. With a bit more luck, he could have been going home with the match ball, but I’m sure there are more where that one came from.
“I don’t know whether it feels better to get Stoke’s first point off United in the Premier League or to break their 100% record because they have been destroying teams and to keep it to 1-1 feels like a win.
“They have so much firepower and they kept bringing on wave after wave of talent, but we soaked up the pressure and our midfield four worked incredibly hard to help contain them.
“It takes a lot to beat the feeling of winning an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, but that feels as good as any result since I’ve been here and it was one of the best games I’ve been involved in.”
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