5 games into the season, 3 wins for Manchester United, all of them coming with a completely different style of play to what Erik ten Hag favours. Whilst he initially tried to play out from the back, goalkeeper David de Gea showed his flaws against Brentford, directly indicating that he is incompetent at carrying out what is necessary for the team to play out. In that abysmal display in the 4-0 loss, de Gea also showed his poor cross stopping (command of his area) and shot stopping, So far this season he has conceded as many goals as expected, stopped one cross and swept three times, not good enough for a goalkeeper in a progressive system.

The issue at Manchester United is that they do not have a good enough replacement for David de Gea, even with his terrible performances. Tom Heaton has been deemed a 3^rd choice by ten Hag as he’s brought Martin Dubravka in on a season long loan deal from Newcastle in attempt to provide competition to de Gea. Dean Henderson is arguably much better than de Gea and should be starting for United, however he’s out on loan at Nottingham Forest and his future at the club is quite insecure following recent media comments.

This has meant that ten Hag has been restricted in what he can do as he has to stick with de Gea for the current time. Following the 4-0 defeat in London, ten Hag scrapped his tactic of playing out from the back and instead opted to go long with every goal kick in attempt to eliminate errors at the back from de Gea. This was his pass map vs Leicester City, he attempted 15 long passes and failed to pick out a player from any of them. When de Gea goes long our side is setup with McTominay in attempt to win the 2^nd ball, however often we fail to win the 2^nd ball and we face constant opposition pressure with the numerous turnovers.

A similar trend is evident with our defenders. Due to de Gea’s inability to claim crosses, we are forced into box defending, hence the use of Varane and Martinez in the side over Maguire. In an optimal scenario, de Gea claims the cross which allows our team to regain their shape and we can play out from the back, retaining the ball. However, as he is unable to claim crosses, our defenders have to clear the ball away which further leads to constant turnovers and United being on the backfoot.

For these reasons, de Gea must be replaced at the end of the season when his contract runs out, but it is important that the club sign the correct replacement for him, someone who is good at all aspects of goalkeeping. If Dubravka performs well this season then the club could decide to sign him on a permanent basis but it’s likely that the club look for a younger goalkeeper.

Diogo Costa

Diogo Costa would be the big name signing who could be very expensive. The Portuguese goalkeeper started 33 games for title-winning F.C. Porto last season, conceding only 22 goals! He’s very much an all-round goalkeeper, excelling in shot-stopping, distribution, sweeping and cross stopping. In the 2020/21 season, Costa averaged 40 touches per game and 42 attempted passes per game. This is much higher than de Gea’s numbers, who averages 27 touches and attempts 16 passes attempted. Costa’s tendencies to sweep have been highlighted in his UEFA Champions League data as he ranks in the 94^th percentile for sweeping actions and 96^th percentile for distance of actions.

All of this data is very impressive and has led to Costa getting his international debut for Portugal against Turkey in March this year.

At only 22 years of age, Costa still has a lot of time to develop into one of the world’s best goalkeepers. In a progressive system, he has all the necessary traits to succeed hence could do very well under Erik ten Hag if Manchester United do sign him.

Mike Maignan

Do I even need to say much about him? Mike Maignan moved to AC Milan last season to replace Gianluigi Donnarumma. He had massive boots to fill, and he’s not only filled them completely, he’s exceeded the expectations of him. The French ‘keeper is what you call an all-rounder, he’s excellent at every category of goalkeeping possible.

In the 2021/22 Serie A season, Maignan prevented Milan from conceding an additional 8 goals due to his shot stopping alone, this number is even greater when you take into consideration his 0.81 crosses stopped per 90, preventing shots from being taken. Maignan ranks in the 89^th percentile for crosses stopped per 90, and 95^th percentile for percentage of crosses stopped (12.3%).

Not only does he have excellent aerial command, he also ranks in the 85^th percentile for sweeping actions amongst Serie A goalkeepers, averaging 0.81 sweeps per 90. This is a massive upgrade on Manchester United’s current options, and his mix of traditional goalkeeping and technical ability is perfect for the Red Devils. However, the only issue is that it would be very difficult to get Maignan to leave a title winning AC Milan side, but Manchester United do have their pull!

Doğan Alemdar

Doğan Alemdar is a 19-year-old goalkeeper who plays for Stade Rennais. The young goalkeeper has already made his national debut for Turkey, albeit he’s not a regular in the side. Alemdar seriously impressed when he was at Kayserispor as he started 28 matches, averaging 3.2 saves per game, 35 touches and 16.4 completed passes per 90. He also managed to save 2 out of the 8 penalties he faced that season.

Following his 21/22 campaign, he moved to Stade Rennais where he would go on to start only 12 matches. Whilst Stade Rennais aren’t the strongest defensively, Alemdar does have work to do on his shot stopping as he conceded an average of 1.1 goals per game, and conceded 2.64 goals more than expected.

However, he prevented a lot of big chances and shooting opportunities with his excellent sweeping ability, he ranks in the 84^th percentile for sweeping actions per 90 across all goalkeepers in the top 5 leagues.  His passing also appears to be good; he averages 35 touches per 90 and 26 passes, which will be inflated in a possession-based side such as Manchester United.  

Doğan Alemdar is in no way the ideal solution for next season but would be the cheapest solution and could be one for the future. If the club do sign Dubravka on a permanent deal then Alemdar could be 2^nd choice to him or be loaned out until he is mature enough to be starting consistently.