Peter Schmeichel Encourages Man Utd to Stick With David de Gea Despite Poor Performances

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has encouraged the Red Devils to stick with under-fire shot stopper David de Gea, despite the emergence of Dean Henderson.

De Gea recently kept his 113th clean sheet for United as they overcame Leicester City 2-0 on the final day of the Premier League season to secure third place in the table. This shutout meant that the Spaniard has now claimed the record for the most clean sheets kept by a Man Utd goalkeeper in the Premier League - a record previously held by Schmeichel.

Despite this, the 29-year-old has been coming under increasing pressure in recent times as a result of a number of high-profile mistakes over the last two seasons. The form of Henderson, who has enjoyed a very successful campaign with Sheffield United, has also resulted in questions being raised as to who should be United's first-choice shot-stopper next season.

Schmeichel has now weighed in on the debate, explaining that while Henderson has performed very well this campaign, United should keep their faith in De Gea as he has had to adjust to a new style of playing.

"There is an English goalkeeper, young, on loan at Sheffield United, he's done fantastically well, he's very, very promising and it's a great story," Schmeichel said on beIN SPORTS, as quoted by the Express.

"[But] De Gea's one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League for the last I don't know how many years. One of the things I believe is that the way Ole's changed the way the team plays hasn't fitted in with the way that De Gea has played in the last couple of years and so he would have had to make changes to his game.

"And in making changes you're always making mistakes. If you don't make mistakes, you don't really learn."

Schmeichel further added that De Gea has been treated unfairly, but after a much-needed break, he will return to his best. He continued: "They've now got third place, they've got the Europa League to focus on now, he comes back with a couple of weeks break, comes back to a new season, he'll be alright.

"I see David de Gea as the goalkeeper for Manchester United for many years to come and I think he has been treated unfairly in all honesty."