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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has jumped to David de Gea’s defense following criticism of his performance against RB Leipzig. Former Manchester United hero Paul Scholes was unimpressed with the Spaniard, accusing the plug of ‘bottling’ his attempt to avoid one of the goals.
De Gea hesitated as he reacted to a cross in the second half of United’s 3-2 loss in Germany, allowing Leipzig forward Justin Kluivert to score the third decisive goal for the hosts.
Speaking after the game, Scholes called the goalkeeper’s efforts “criminal” and accused his former teammate of lacking courage in the situation.
“Here David de Gea, he bottles, right? Basically, he’s afraid of hurting himself, “he said on BT Sport.
“As a goalkeeper, he goes out, make yourself as big as you can, they can smash you in the face, they can injure you, but he turns his back.
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“With good reason, he is on the lists of being the best goalkeeper in Europe. For me, it has handled criticism before, it has handled setbacks before.
“He’s a man we really trust and hopefully he won’t be affected by criticism, and I don’t think he is.
“Every goal a goalkeeper concedes will disappoint you.”
De Gea has come under fire this season as United continue to struggle behind.
The goalkeeper has let in 16 goals in 10 Premier League starts this season and another eight out of five in Europe.
With only two clean sheets to his name, there have been calls for his understudy Dean Henderson to start in his place.
After De Gea injured his knee in the win over Southampton, Henderson came in as his replacement at halftime.
The 23-year-old, who was on loan to Sheffield United last season, also started the Reds’ last league game when they beat West Ham 3-1.
However, De Gea was called up for the game against Leipzig that saw United exit the Champions League.
The goalkeeper was unable to prevent goals from Angelino and Amadou Haidara in the first half, before his mistake allowed Kluivert to make it 3-0.
United bounced back when Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba cut the deficit, but the Bundesliga side held on to victory to condemn Solskjaer’s side to the Europa League.
De Gea is expected to keep his spot for rivals City’s visit to Old Trafford.
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