De Gea makes damning assessment; ‘strange’ Rangnick thoughts
Manchester United keeper David de Gea admits he felt his goal was under constant threat against Chelsea.
De Gea faced 24 shots but was beaten only by a Jorginho penalty as Manchester United battled to a 1-1 draw away at the Premier League leaders on Sunday.
The Spaniard saved from Hakim Ziyech, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Antonio Rudiger, ensuring Jadon Sancho’s opener was enough for the visitors to earn a point.
De Gea has been openly critical of Manchester United in recent weeks, slamming their performance against Liverpool and eviscerating the display against Watford, which proved to be Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s last as manager.
He was slightly more positive about the Chelsea match but pointed out that there is still plenty of work to be done.
“I think we already improved against Villarreal,” he said. “It was a big game for us, we won, we qualified and now we played against a very good team away from home.
“The effort from the team was very good. They had the best chances, to be honest. For me, a draw is not enough, we want to win all the time, but we are still in a tough moment. I’m proud of the effort of the team.
“On the pitch, in the goal, I was feeling danger for nearly the whole game, but we defended well. They missed big chances to find the target. The one [goal] we have, they gave us a chance and we scored. It’s not enough to draw, but at the moment with the way we are, it’s a big point.
“The games before, we were conceding three or four, now we conceded one from a penalty. We had a clean sheet against Villarreal, but this is just two games. We need to show in the games that are coming – we face Arsenal so it’s a big game again, we need to keep going – that we can stay focused and give 100 per cent.”
On the impending appointment of Ralf Rangnick as interim head coach until the end of the season, De Gea added: “It’s a bit strange, but we’re professional players.
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“We’re training properly, playing properly. We play under the pressure as well and that’s Manchester United.
“We’ll see what happens in the future, but at the moment, we are a team, we feel like we’re all together and fighting for the same things.
“At the moment, it is Carrick and we’re with him. We are still conceding many chances, but the team is together. This will make us stronger.”