Key Highlights :
It's been a season of progress for Manchester United under Erik ten Hag, but Thursday night's Europa League exit was a major setback. After throwing away a two goal lead in the first leg, United travelled to Sevilla knowing they had to do something special to advance. However, a mix-up between David de Gea and Harry Maguire in the eighth minute not only left United with a mountain to climb, but set the tone for the entire evening. De Gea's decision to pass the ball to Maguire, who did offer himself up for the ball, whilst he was surrounded by three Sevilla players gifted Youssef En-Nesyri the opener. And the Spanish shot-stopper was culpable for Sevilla's two other goals, too, as the LaLiga outfit cantered to a 3-0 win on the night.
In the wake of Thursday night's sobering defeat, people have questioned whether De Gea is capable of meeting Ten Hag's demands by playing out from the back. This was compounded by Ten Hag's pre-match comments, in which he claimed De Gea was a "complete" goalkeeper. Speaking earlier this week, he said of De Gea: “Stopping goals, avoiding goals as that is the main job for a goalkeeper. You can do it in many more ways, everyone has their own particular style and nowadays in possession, it becomes more and more important, especially at the top level because there you take control and it is more difficult for the opponent to gain pressure, you also concede less chances. “But at the end of the day it’s about stopping goals, stopping shots, stopping crosses, one-on-ones etc so that is more like the classic goalkeeper. I think David is really multi-functional and a really complete goalkeeper. We are very happy with him.”
Despite his errors on Thursday night, and reports claiming that United want to acquire a new goalkeeper in the summer, Ten Hag doubled down on his support for De Gea after the match. He said: "David de Gea as a long-term goalkeeper? He is the one with the cleanest sheets in the Premier League."
However, it is clear that De Gea's performance against Sevilla was not up to his usual standard. He has been a key player for Manchester United over the past decade, and he will need to improve if he is to remain the club's number one goalkeeper. Ten Hag has shown faith in De Gea, but it is up to the Spaniard to prove his manager right. The Manchester United fans will be hoping that De Gea can put his nightmare performance against Sevilla behind him and get back to his best.