Nicknamed Van der Gea by his teammates at Atletico Madrid , 19-year-old David De Gea is fast becoming one of the greatest goalkeeping prospects in Europe. The 1.92m tall keeper has earned his nickname for his similarity to Manchester United's custodian Edwin van der Sar – both for his outer appearance and his goalkeeping style.
De Gea who has been at Atletico since the age of 10 was first exposed to the world in 2007, playing for the Spanish Under-17 national team in the World Cup and helped them reach the final. Just like Pepe Reina and Andres Palop have earned widespread praise for their penalty-saving expertise in recent years, their young compatriot did the same. His impressive reflexes and penalty saves made him the best goalkeeper in the tournament.
This season De Gea received his first chance as a senior player. As first choice Sergio Asenjo (another huge prospect) was away with the Under-20 national team in the World Cup in Egypt De Gea got his call-up to the senior squad. In September he replaced the injured second choice goalie Roberto during a Champions League match at Porto and showed good ability despite the 2-0 loss. Three days later he made his league debut at home against Real Zaragoza, giving away a penalty in the 19th minute only to save the ensuing attempt. So far he has recorded two league appearances this season.
So what makes De Gea such a special talent to watch over the much more famous Asenjo?
Well, the answer lies in the key to the creation of a top-calibre goalkeeper: While a goalkeeper’s performance involves physical elements such as height, speed and power, it is often the psychological component which determines success. At every level, there are goalkeepers with exceptional agility and great jumping ability, keepers with good size and flexibility, and those who can make a great save.
Goalkeeping, though, demands more than physical prowess. Supreme confidence, concentration and ability to deal with pressure are the critical parameters that propel an interesting goalkeeping prospect into a world-class player.
That's where De Gea is a true gem. His concentration level is extremely rare for goalkeepers of his age and he has already proven his ability to handle pressure with the Spanish youth sides and during his matches as a senior player this season. His confidence in himself is also very high, and it derives from his enormous presence which builds this kind of confidence.
All of these characteristics derive first and foremost from the young keeper's intelligence and character. In Spain De Gea is known as a humble young guy, who works extremely hard in training and is always smiling. He just has the perfect mentality for a goalkeeper – calm, intelligent, a natural leader and yet full of confidence.
De Gea is of course not only mentally ready to play at the highest level. He is also on the way to become a complete keeper in professional terms. This lanky keeper is extremely agile and has the reflexes of a cat. He is very fast in comparison to most keepers of his height and sometimes he reaches balls that seem totally out of reach due to his speed. His positioning, aerial ability, communication and decision making – often parameters in which young goalies fail to impress – are already excellent.
As said, he is an expert at stopping penalty kicks while his kicking, punching and throwing technique are all excellent as well.
The one parameter in which De Gea must work extensively on is rushing out of his goal line. He does have a very good one-on-one ability as he knows how to spread his body and until when to stand on his feet; however he sometimes rushes too fast to the coming attacker which may result in a foul or the oncoming attacker taking the pall round him.
As a youngster De Gea has overcame a year-long knee cap injury to progress through the ranks. He also had to travel 50 km in each direction from his home in the small town of Illescas to Atletico's training ground. Now, with five senior games under his belt (including two Copa Del Rey matches) De Gea is eligible for a professional contract which will run until 2013. His current deal expires on 2011.
Skill rating (in comparison with the Spanish top tier):
Aerial ability 7/10
Command of area 7/10
Communication 7/10
Handling technique 8/10
Kicking 9/10
One on one 7/10
Reflexes 8/10
Rushing out 5/10
Punching 7/10
Throwing 7/10
Positioning 8/10
Bravery 8/10
Concentration 9/10
Decision making 7/10
Determination 7/10
Teamwork 8/10
Jumping 9/10
Consistency 7/10
Foot technique 7/10
Penalty stopping 8/10
Agility 9/10
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