Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has made a marked improvement since arriving at Old Trafford from Atletico Madrid in 2011. After a difficult spell in England which saw his body strength and abilities to cope with the rigours of English football called into question, the Spaniard has put his troubles behind him. De Gea's performances have been one of only a few positives from what has largely been a troublesome debut season for David Moyes, who has struggled to step into Sir Alex Ferguson's shoes. United have already lost eight times this season, the most games they have ever lost since the inception of the Premier League, and are floundering in seventh. But while the Red Devils have been struggling, midfielder Darren Fletcher recently singled de Gea out for praise, saying:
He has been fantastic for us. There has not been a better goalkeeper around for the last 18 months. He has been one of the most positive things about this season.
That's high praise considering the likes of Arsenal's Wojciech Szczesny and Chelsea's Petr Cech have been in such fine form recently, along with Manchester City's Joe Hart. But how does de Gea compare with United's previous No.1s from years gone by? Here we rank 10 Man United goalkeepers, past and present, from worst to best.
10. Massimo Taibi
After Peter Schmeichel called time on his illustrious Manchester United career in 1999, the search was on for a replacement between the sticks. Sir Alex Ferguson would go through a spate of goalkeepers as he attempted to find somebody to fill the void left behind by the Great Dane, and signed Massimo Taibi for £4.5 million. However, Taibi was a flop, and made a string of high-profile gaffes in the mere one season he spent at Old Trafford after arriving from Venezia. The most noteworthy of these blunders came against Southampton in September 1999 when Matthew Le Tissier's shot embarrassingly squirmed under the goalkeeper's grasp, a mistake that Taibi became synonymous for. Needless to say, the Italian didn't go on to replace Schmeichel, and was loaned to Rangers midway through his first - and last - season at United, and was swiftly sold to Reggina in 2000.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
