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Manchester United vs Chelsea: David de Gea will not be dropped despite mistakes, says Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

De Gea came in for criticism following Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat in the Manchester derby

Mark Critchley
Northern Football Correspondent
Friday 26 April 2019 09:59 BST
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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reacts after Manchester United's defeat by Man City

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has no intention of dropping David de Gea from his Manchester United starting line-up despite the goalkeeper’s errors of late.

De Gea came in for criticism following Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat in the Manchester derby having conceded twice at his near post to Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sané.

The mistakes were the latest in a line of errors, with De Gea at least partially at fault for goals conceded against Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United and Barcelona.

De Gea has been United’s most consistent performer in recent years, winning the club’s player of the year award in four of the past five seasons.

On Thursday, former United goalkeeper Gary Bailey called on Solskjaer to drop De Gea in order to “let him rediscover his mojo”, but the United manager was unconvinced.

“No. Not at all,” he said when the idea of dropping De Gea was raised.

“Because I trust David and he’s for me been the best player United have had last six or seven years.

“He has been absolutely outstanding and going through tough patches is part of a footballer’s career. David will be fine, no worries.”

De Gea’s future at United remains uncertain, with his contract set to expire next summer and talks over renewed terms still running.

Solskjaer does not believe that those negotiations are at the root of De Gea’s form and is happy to keep playing him while talks are ongoing.

“That’s something you have to deal with as a footballer, you don’t always have a contract for five or 10 years or three years.

“It’s a situation, David’s coming in every single day doing what he should be doing.”

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