'Like De Gea has never kicked a ball before' – Twitter reacts to Man Utd horror show

Tom Hancock

Updated: 20 Apr 2023 22:13 BST
6 min read

David de Gea, Man Utd, 2022/23 — © ProShots

Manchester United’s Europa League campaign ended with a horror show as they went down 3-0 at Sevilla in the second leg of their quarter-final tie, losing 5-2 on aggregate.

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On a performance which evoked flashbacks to August’s abysmal 4-0 defeat to Brentford, BT Sport co-commentator Robbie Savage remarked that numerous players would be “playing for their Manchester United careers” between now and the end of the season.

And, despite reports that he is close to signing a new contract at Old Trafford, that may hold true for David de Gea – who endured an utterly calamitous night in the ticker tape-strewn cauldron of noise that was the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.

The Man Utd goalkeeper was at fault for all three goals: for Youssef En-Nesyri’s first, he carelessly passed to the under-pressure Harry Maguire, who was dispossessed with ease; for the second, Loic Bade’s seemingly easy-to-read header looped over De Gea and into the net; and for the third, he came rushing out for the ball and seemed to totally lose control of his feet, gifting the ball to Youssef En-Nesyri to bag a brace.

Unsurprisingly, Twitter was awash with criticism and mockery of De Gea – from the media and Man Utd fans alike.

That was like De Gea has never kicked a ball before.
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) April 20, 2023

when the ball in school was kicked over towards one of the lads who doesn't play
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) April 20, 2023

Sevilla are absolutely feasting on David De Gea. The astonishing thing is, each of his THREE dreadful errors were completely different: no awarenss/distribution, unable to come off his line, then an air-kick.
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) April 20, 2023

is there a way of verifying goalkeepers?
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) April 20, 2023

Embarrassing doesn't even begin to describe De Gea's performance tonight for Manchester United.
— Ninad Barbadikar (@NinadB_06) April 20, 2023

I have no idea why any Man Utd fan thinks wanting De Gea replaced means hating/disrespecting him. It's going to raise a big question mark on Ten Hag if De Gea's our no.1 next season.

Served the club well for years, but we need to move on for the team's best interest. pic.twitter.com/qqPgvmN8bw
— UF (@UtdFaithfuls) April 20, 2023

I still stand by this statement to this day - De Gea’s ability to save things he shouldn’t blinds people to the fact he doesn’t save the things he should
— Casey Evans (@Casey_Evans_) April 20, 2023

This painful performance is worth it if it gets De Gea out
— Muhamad (@momoalas93) April 20, 2023

I think it goes under the radar how many howlers De Gea has had in season-defining games in the last 5 years
— Aaron Moniz (@amonizfootball) April 20, 2023