A large part of Manchester United’s 2016-17 campaign has been defined by a failure to turn dominant performances into winning results.
The Red Devils lost just three league games this term, but drawing a third of their 18 league encounters so far means they are sixth in the table and four points off the top four heading into the second half of the season.
That said, things have changed of late, with United currently on an 11-game unbeaten streak, which includes five wins from their last five matches – a run they’ll be looking to extend when Middlesbrough visit Old Trafford on New Year’s Eve.
David de Gea is Man Utd’s undisputed number one, having played all 1,620 minutes of the Premier League season so far, making some important saves and spreading much-needed calm to those in front of him.
Having been at United four five-and-a-half years now, the world-class goalkeeper has seen his fair share of changes, from winning titles with the great Sir Alex Ferguson to the disappointing reigns of both David Moyes and Louis van Gaal.
In an exclusive interview with United Review, the club’s official match programme, De Gea heaped praise onto his current boss Jose Mourinho and believes that the 53-year-old is a key factor in the team’s much-improved displays this term.
The “Special One” only took over in the summer, but according to the Spaniard, his man-management skills are very good and the sense of both calm and purpose that he’s brought to the club in that time have helped the English giants to settle down.
The 26-year-old said, via United’s website: “He’s a really great manager. He’s a winner; he wants to win every game, every competition. He’s working hard, he’s really close to the players and I think that’s really good.
“He’s always joking with us, he’s a strong character and that’s good. Things are more positive and he’s a winner. You can feel he wants to win and I think the players know that we have to.”
United’s Player of the Year for the past three seasons running added: “We all want to go in the same direction. We want to win things and we all know what Manchester United is.
“It’s a massive club, we all know the fans deserved more than they have had in the last few years and we need to play our best, give everything on the pitch and keep trying to win, win, win.”
In a wide-ranging interview, De Gea was also asked whether winning the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award for a fourth consecutive time interests him, to which he joking replied: “Erm… No! I would prefer a striker or someone else to win it.
“Someone who means that the team as a whole is playing well and scoring goals, because it is much better for the team that way.”
The award hasn’t even been a contest in recent times, but the form of players Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones, Ander Herrera and, of course, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, means De Gea will have a serious fight on his hands this time round.