De Gea is now a more complete keeper

Our current no.1 entered the top 10 of all-time appearance makers for the club when facing Everton in the Emirates FA Cup on Friday night.

With 511 matches under his belt, David has moved ahead of Joe Spence and now has ninth-placed Denis Irwin his sights.

At 32, De Gea still has many years ahead of him in the sport but he is a very different goalie to the one signed from Atletico Madrid in 2011.

"If you play for Manchester United," former Red van der Gouw explained to us. "It’s really hard to play consistently in every game, very well. If you look at that, in general, he’s a fantastic goalkeeper and he is still young.

"He can still play for years if he is looking after his body and keeps himself fit, then I can see that he can reach much more. And it’s a bonus he is still in the first team as that means he is good because it is not easy playing for Manchester United.”

"In Spain, there is a different way of football and, in England, it’s really tough for a goalkeeper. You have so many aspects and everything will be analysed and, to stay on this level, is really hard. So you can say he is doing a good job."

Van der Gouw has definitely noticed some changes to David's game since Erik ten Hag took over the manager, as a new style of play has already helped yield some impressive results in the Dutchman's first season in charge.

“Yeah, well that’s something that is a combination of the vision of the manager and also the players in front of you," outlined the boss's fellow countryman. "If you play with a lot of space behind you, like a defender, then the goalkeeper has to be in a more advanced position.

"That means De Gea has to be more forwards in his starting position. It’s the key thing of when he can make a decision. Like now, they play with space behind them and it makes, for him, a different game and he now has to come out more than normal.

"So I think it will make him more complete. If you look at other goalkeepers, for example, Manuel Neuer from Germany, he makes mistakes coming outside his box but he is still doing it and still coming out. He’s so good at that so it’s the development of De Gea, to learn, and you have to be really braced and can only make one choice: coming out or staying. If you go out and you know it’s a little bit too late, you say: ‘Oh my God, s**t.’ There’s no way to go back. He’s doing well at the moment so that’s nice to see and he’s developing his game in that perspective as well.”

Van der Gouw accepts that there is huge scrutiny on every keeper in the Premier League, with so much focus trained on the games. Pundits are often quick to criticise those between the sticks, without sometimes appreciating the nuances of their position.

“You feel always the pressure," he added. "You always know that everybody is looking over your shoulder. These days, every goal is on a camera, from different angles: from behind the goal, from the side, from the front. Everybody has an opinion.

"Everybody says: ‘Yeah, you should have stopped his goal’. A lot of times, you see it in slow motion and it looks very easy. But if you go to normal speed then it’s going so fast. If you look from above, it’s much easier but, when you’re standing at the same height, like all the players, you will see the difference and see how difficult it will be.

"A lot of things you can see and you can see if the goalkeeper is not in the right position. And then you say: ‘Okay, you expect that a goalkeeper will stop a ball like that’. That’s fair. I know it’s a tough job but it’s also a nice job. If you stop fantastic balls, it gives you a fantastic feeling.

"It’s good also for the players. But, on the other side, if nobody makes a mistake, the goalkeeper won’t get the ball on a goal. There is always something going on before, to avoid a shot on the goal. And, yeah, for the keeper, you know that. You know that not every action, you can stop. You have to be ready and prepared for a mistake from somebody in front of you.”