Manchester United Manager Louis van Gaal has seen plenty of drama with his goalkeepers this summer. Obviously, it’s starts with his #1 David de Gea. That soap opera has been over-covered to the extreme, so we’ll refrain from further beating the dead horse here.
Victor Valdes had an attitude/self-perception that didn’t gel with Van Gaal, so he had to be jettisoned. Sergio Romero, who was bought this summer, has been the only steady, drama free keeper on United this season.
Despite the fact that Romero is three for three in recording a clean sheet this Premier League season, Van Gaal is not sold on the idea that he could be his long term #1. Van Gaal is correct that Romero hasn’t had to face as many scoring chances, due to a Red Devils back line that is vastly improved from where they were at this time last year.
Van Gaal said of Sergio Romero:
“I don’t think he is up to it yet because, until now, we haven’t allowed a lot of shots or moments in our 16-metre area.
“I think he has made very good saves but until now I think only maybe the save in Brugge at 1-0 was very important, but he did also a save against Tottenham.
“So he could not show what he can show, I think, but that is only a compliment for the team. We wouldn’t have bought him if we didn’t believe in him.”
“The difficulty in training was the co-operation between the new players and him. We have had special training sessions not only with him and the goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek, but also with the players.
“We have given a lot of attention to that and because of that we could overcome that.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 the Zone.
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