Ferguson backs under-fire de Gea

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has reaffirmed his faith in David de Gea ahead of Sunday’s Premier League clash against Chelsea.

The 21-year old is expected to start after overcoming an illness which ruled himself out of Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Stoke City.

United were dealt a blow when it was revealed that Anders Lindegaard was set to face six weeks on the sidelines with ankle ligament damage, meaning Ferguson was left with the options of under-fire De Gea or rookie Ben Amos to start between the posts.

De Gea was criticised for his performance against Liverpool last weekend as United exited the FA Cup, with a 2-1 defeat at Anfield and fared no better in the loss 3-2 at home to Blackburn in December.

Ferguson said that his 18.9 million-pound signing will come good as he adapts to the rigours of Premier League football, claiming it could take a few years for him to properly settle in.

“The boy has got a great talent, there is no doubt about that,” Ferguson said.

“He has made two or three mistakes, coming into the game at 20 years of age.”

“He’s 21 now and in two or three years time we won’t be discussing that at all because he will have matured. He will realise his potential then.”

“At the moment he has found it difficult coming into the English game. The first goal at Liverpool was a case in point. He was crowded out and our own players created the problem with so many of them being around him. They didn’t give him any room to manoeuvre.”

The 70-year-old Ferguson feels that De Gea’s first season in English football proves how different the expectation level for a goalkeeper is in England, compared to Spain.

“He would never have experienced that in Spain, so that was difficult for him,” Ferguson explained.

“It’s highlighted when you make a mistake at United and it can be exaggerated a little bit. But there were mistakes and he wants to address them himself. He will do that through maturity and gaining an understanding of the English game.”

Ferguson is prepared to be patient and stick by his man though and seemed adamant that his time will come, as he revealed that buying a young goalkeeper was always part of the plan.

“It’s harder when you’re replacing someone like Edwin van der Sar and Peter Schmeichel and they are probably two of the greatest goalkeepers in European football over the last 40 years.”

“So that’s not easy. I found it difficult to replace those players at the time.”

“That’s why we went for a young replacement. We felt we should go for a young keeper who would develop and mature into the position because the potential is there.”