Schmeichel: De Gea Has 'Unbelievable' Mentality

Peter Schmeichel has hailed the mental strength of David de Gea in recovering from his nightmare start at Manchester United.

The Spanish international has developed into one of the world’s best goalkeepers over the last two seasons but started life at Old Trafford with some inconsistent displays and took significant flak from pundits and fans alike.

And Schmeichel, who won five Premier League titles at United, feels De Gea deserves a huge amount of credit for proving the critics wrong.

Speaking on The Fantasy Football Club, he said: “He came in and for some reason everyone thought it was a mistake from Sir Alex Ferguson.

“He chose a young guy at 19 years old who didn’t even look like a goalkeeper. Every day he would have been reading somewhere that he was a very bad goalkeeper and yet by the end of February that season, no one was talking about how bad he was. He kept Manchester United in the race for the title.

“To bounce back from the treatment he got for six months is unbelievable. De Gea has got a strong mentality. He’s unbelievable.

The problem is having a goalkeeper that is man of the match every week, it tells a story that I don’t like to hear. That is ‘we are struggling big time’. This guy makes save after save after save.”