De Gea ranked above Van der Sar & Schmeichel
David De Gea, Edwin van der Sar or Peter Schmeichel? It’s a tough question that extracted contrasting answers from Ander Herrera, Bryan Robson and David May in our latest edition of Table Football, which is available to watch in full on YouTube.
“I cannot say anything other than David,” admits Ander in support of his Spanish amigo De Gea. “For me David is the best. He is the best I have trained with and sometimes in training it is funny because when he doesn't want us to score, we don't! So for me there is no doubt. But, of course, I respect the other two because they both had amazing careers and did amazingly for the club.”
Expanding on his support of David, Herrera reasons: “I don't know if they were as good as David at the same age. Maybe you can tell me. They were amazing, but maybe when they were a bit older.”
May, who played alongside Schmeichel for five seasons at United, accepts Ander’s point about age but remains convinced that our Great Dane is the ultimate no.1.
"I would have to say Big Pete,” Maysie admits. “He is the best goalkeeper I have ever seen. But in fairness David, by all means, is only 27 and had not even reached his peak yet for a goalkeeper.”
Robson also opts for Schmeichel in the debate, but accepts choosing between the trio of goalkeepers is an impossible question that is comparable to another great question in football.
“I have got to say that all three of them are top drawer and they are fantastic goalkeepers,” says Captain Marvel. “I know David is your big mate, Ander, but for me Peter, with his presence and size, was fantastic, not just at shot-stopping but crosses as well. He was brilliant."
“But this is like when people ask you who is better: Messi or Ronaldo? Both of them are absolutely top drawer and the results would be 50/50. I look at those three goalkeepers and they are all great in their own right.”
That is another topical question put to the panel and Robbo begins by outlining his preference, which wasn’t even on the shortlist! “With the amount of games that you play nowadays, penalties is the best option of those two,” he explains. “But I would personally go with Golden Goal in extra time, because then you are winning the game on football and not on penalties.”
Herrera is on board with that, saying: “I agree with you because sometimes you have played much better than the opponent and you feel like the penalties is like a toss of the coin. But it also depends on the game. If you play at home against one of the top four and you draw, maybe you don't want to go away. Or if you are playing at Yeovil Town and you draw, you then want to play at home."
Maysie, on the hand, opts for the excitement of a shootout: "I would go with penalties, but I do like the Golden Goal. Otherwise you have teams that just sit back and go for penalties.”
WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE AWAY GROUND?
Robson opts for Villa Park because it was a "lucky ground" and Maysie chooses Everton's historic Goodison Park, but Ander goes for much smaller grounds.
"To be honest I am a bit classic in this kind of thing and I really like the FA Cup atmospheres when we are away," says Herrera. "Yeovil TOwn and we played at Cambridge a couple of seasons ago. it is the atmosphere they create, not just the stadium or the building. When you see the ground and it feels like there are more people than the capacity allows. What I don't like in modern football is that sometimes the stadiums have a little bit for tourism and when you go to the smaller grounds, it feels like old-school football. So I couldn't pick one - just the FA Cup games against the lower teams."