offered little to suggest that he could evolve into a No.1 with a stature so imposing he could even rival Peter Schmeichel. The Great Dane has long been the benchmark for Old Trafford goalkeepers and, at last, United have a keeper not just filling his void, but stepping out of his shadow, too.
Louis van Gaal's side picked up their sixth consecutive win on Sunday, dispatching an injury and confidence hit Liverpool side who still seem to be reeling from both their recent Champions League exit and last season’s so-near-yet-so-far title challenge. The 3-0 scoreline might suggest a degree of control, but once again the Red Devils were indebted to De Gea. The Spaniard was comfortably his side's best player on the day, his personal duel with the profligate Raheem Sterling ultimately determining the victor at Old Trafford. Just before Robin van Persie rolled the ball into an unmanned net for United's third goal, Liverpool had had seven shots on target compared to three for the hosts. But for De Gea, it would have been a rather more even contest. That has been the story of United's winning run, a curious contrast between a leaky back-line totally dependant on their keeper and a ruthless attack. In fact, they have conceded 29 shots on target in their last six matches but managed just 24 of their own, while only against Crystal Palace and Hull City have they managed more efforts on target than their opponents.
Over this period, De Gea's save percentage stands at a whopping 88 per cent and he has conceded just three times. While opponents have careered into an immovable Spanish wall, enduring just a 10% shots-on-target-to-goals conversion rate, United's frontline have netted from 52% of their efforts on goal. Therein lies the story of their recent resurgence: impossibly unbreachable at one end with an abundance of firepower and clutch finishing at the other.
Against Liverpool, that was once again true. A mere 25 seconds after Sterling had been thwarted by the feet of De Gea, United had taken the lead with a calm, precision finish from skipper Wayne Rooney. That passage of play could scarcely have summed up United's recent performances more neatly. More saves followed, with Sterling thwarted twice more in the first half, and when Mario Balotelli was brought on in the second period he too was forced into a seemingly unwinnable tete-a-tete with the former Atletico Madrid keeper. The 24-year-old batted away the Italian striker's low shot, narrowing the angle intelligently, before producing an outrageous reflex save to push another Balotelli effort onto the crossbar soon after. The best goalkeepers can get inside the head of the striker bearing down on them, and De Gea seems to have reached a point in his career where he exudes such an impressive and formidable aura that opponents have already missed before they have even taken their shot. When he first moved to England he looked small and weak, but with every passing game he gets bigger and more intimidating.
"Today was probably the best [performance] I've seen at Old Trafford from a United goalkeeper," remarked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to Sky Sports afterwards. "He was the difference," gushed Jamie Carragher. Van Persie, too, was in awe of his team-mate: "He was absolutely brilliant, as he always is."
It is unfortunate that there is no metric for recording how many points De Gea has won for United in the same way that, for example, Sergio Aguero, has been directly responsible for winning seven points for Manchester City this term. The Argentine, pre-injury, was the most destructive force in the Premier League but De Gea may well have saved his side more points than the division's top scorer has won. There has always been a sense that goalkeepers are somewhat undervalued, and at €22.7 million De Gea now looks like a snip. The Spaniard, on the verge of usurping Iker Casillas as Spain's undisputed No.1, is at the forefront of the current redefining of keepers - they are more than just shot-stoppers now, they are match winners – and Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to sign him once Manuel Neuer had elected to join Bayern Munich feels justified.
De Gea's brilliance was also in stark contrast to the passiveness of Brad Jones, drafted in to replace the gaffe-prone Simon Mignolet. De Gea will have sympathy for the Belgian, having been dropped several times at the start of his own United career, but his display only served to underline how poorly Liverpool have reinvested the money they made from Luis Suarez's sale. It says much that Brendan Rodgers has spent over €120m in the summer but was still forced to field the Australian and the two sides could hardly have been further apart on Sunday in terms of the quality available at either end of the pitch. One had a dominant, fully-loaded attack, the other played without a striker; one had the league’s best keeper swatting away attacks, the other had Jones. Liverpool and United are two sides moving in opposite directions at present, with the latter having collected 18 points from a possible 18. But it will worry Van Gaal that his side are so reliant on De Gea. If they are to be considered back in the title race - they are up to third and five points behind City - then they must find a way to reduce De Gea's workload. There is only so long the Spaniard can continue to bail out his side
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