David De Gea - Welcome to England

David De Gea - Under pressure already

At the end of the game yesterday, Sir Alex gave De Gea a pat on the head and said "Welcome to England".

It won't get any easier for De Gea from here, fans will get on his back every game, managers will be urging their players to shoot on sight and places like Stoke where we visit in a few weeks will be hell for him.

At 20 years of age he has left his homeland, come to a new country and having to learn a new language. Those are three things people seem to be already forgetting.

I was very happy when we were first linked with him, he is a quality young goalkeeper and has already played in some big games (Under 21 Championship Final and Europa League Final - winning both). He's also come up against some of the best players in the world whilst in Spain.

As said above, I believe the language barrier is the main issue at the moment. There were times yesterday where the ball came through and I thought 'That should be the keepers ball' but he didn't come for it, where as with van der Sar last season he would have come to make that ball his. Over time he will improve but for now I expect him to get more stick every week - even from our own fans which won't help.

Another issue people seem to have with him, is his build. Sir Alex mentioned he will be put on a special diet program to build him up and get suited to the Premier League but I don't think it is a major issue. The only thing that will be different between here and Spain is challenging the goalkeeper which we saw yesterday a couple of times. He'll have to get used to that, and quickly. If not when he goes to places like Stoke and comes across Delap's throws, he'll have nightmares for weeks.

I've got full faith in David. I believe he was the right singing to replace the great van der Sar and over time he'll prove that. I definitely wouldn't drop him any time soon, that would send out the wrong message and do nothing for his confidence.

Patience is key.

Sparky.

To discuss David De Gea, take a look at his dedicated thread in the Man Utd forum here: http://www.soccer24-7.com/forum/showthread.php?t=184432