De Gea Loves Life At Old Trafford

United's official monthly magazine, Inside United, caught up with Reds goalkeeper David De Gea just before Christmas.

In the first of our two-part excerpt, the Spanish goalkeeper speaks of adjusting to English football, communicating with his defenders and his title ambitions.

You've now experienced a few months in the Premier League after two seasons in Spain's La Liga. What are the differences?
Well, I think it's fair to say La Liga and the Premier League are the two best leagues in the world and in that sense they're very similar, they're at a similar level. But it's well known that here in England the style of play is rather more physical and as a goalkeeper you've got to be right on it, you've got to be attentive all through the match. The players coming at you can shoot from any angle, they can shoot from distance – you need to be aware that you might get a shot from distance at any time. Having said that, there's also a lot of crosses from the sides, a lot of high balls and aerial play. So you've got to be able to get in there and block, interfere and stop shots being taken.

Have you had to adjust much to this, or were you expecting these differences?
I knew when I was coming that this was the style of play I was coming into, so I was pretty much ready and I was already confident when I came here. I knew I'd need to train a lot, which I do. I concentrate a lot on blocking shots and it is going well for me.

Which players were the first to help you settle in when you initially arrived at the club?
Those who speak my language: Chicharito, Antonio [Valencia], Nani. All of them, of course, but specifically those guys because of the language. If I had any questions or problems I could ask them, they helped me a great deal.

In terms of communicating with your defence, how's your English?
[The interpreter asks this question in English and the reply comes in the same language] Good, yes. [English classes going ok?] Yes. [De Gea goes back into Spanish] I understand a lot but it is more difficult for me to express myself. Shouts to my defence, warning calls and that sort of thing: I can do all that fine.

The United defence has chopped and changed a lot, with injuries and rotation. Does that make life more difficult for you?
First thing's first: whoever starts for United, we've got the squad, we've got the players and they're all really good. The level of expectation and the level of play is very high at United but we do have a substantial squad and we are free to rotate, and each player who comes in is a great player – I'd say each is the measure of the other.

You're very good with your feet. Did you ever play outfield as a youngster?
When I was really young, yeah, I did play outfield and I liked it a lot. I have to say, I scored quite a few goals! But when I got into a proper team I moved into goal and that's probably for the best because obviously that's what I now am. There are times in training when you share the outfield players' training methods, to develop ball skills and skills with your feet. It's all part of the game.

What have you made of the team’s season so far?
We made a very good start as a team but it was clear then that it would be difficult to maintain that level. So after five or six games our form did dip a little bit but now we're working hard and we're progressing. We're playing well, we're keeping the ball and we're going in the right direction.

Are you aware of United's reputation of coming into form in the second half of the season?
Yes, I do know about the second half syndrome. Last year we managed to peg Chelsea back a lot of points and went on to win, of course. I think generally as a club we have to maintain a hard line all season and keep our level high, and if the team can maintain that I think we can go on to do great things.

So what are your goals, both this season and in the long term?
Look where we are in the Premier League. We've got to keep up the pressure to go on and win that – obviously Manchester City are causing us a few headaches so it's not going to be easy but we've got to keep that up, that's our principle objective. As for me, longer term, I've every intention of spending many years here and I want to on to become a great United keeper, I want to earn and deserve the respect I hope to engender. And I want to help United make history here.

This interview originally appeared in Inside United (February 2012 edition).