David De Gea snubbed Man Utd keeper coach instructions leading to the Europa League loss to Villarreal.
United goalkeeper David de Gea disregarded his cheat sheet as the Red Devils lost their Europa League final penalty shootout against Villarreal.
United had battled back into the match in Gdansk thanks to a second-half strike from Edinson Cavani.
Gerard Moreno had started the scoring for the LaLiga side, but the Uruguayan’s important goal forced extra-time and penalties.
Before the dreaded shootout, United coaches Richard Hartis and Craig Mawson gave De Gea a list of Villarreal’s players and where they normally place their penalties.
The note slid into the goalkeeper’s towel, even provided extra information on each player’s run-up.
However, De Gea was helplessly unable to save ANY of Villarreal’s 11 spot-kicks, before missing his own to give the Spaniards their first-ever major trophy – and stretch United’s trophyless streak to four years.
The Spaniard originally followed his cheat-sheet to the letter – only having no information for Moreno – but was unable to keep any out.
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During the critical sudden-death period, De Gea went off-book THREE times.
Moi Gomez took Villarreal’s sixth penalty, with his notes revealing he would go down the middle.
But De Gea dived to his left, with Gomez – as suggested – rolling the ball into the center of the goal.
The Spaniard also disregarded the information for Francis Coquelin, although saving his brave, top-corner strike would have been a majestic achievement.
De Gea also declined to adhere to the advice given on Pau Torres – with his gamble almost paying off.
Sensibly, De Gea was given no advice on how to keep out opposite number Geronimo Rulli’s kick.
And when his own tame effort was shunned away by Rulli, United were left disheartened – with Bruno Fernandes spotted in tears.
De Gea has now failed to keep any of his last 40 penalties.
But a psychological specialist has refused to criticize the Spanish stopper for the loss to Villarreal – instead claiming captain for the night Fernandes was at lapse.
A study recommends going second in the shootout results in a 20 percent dip in success rate.
And with Fernandes winning the coin toss and opting to go second, an LSE professor has laid the blame at the feet of the £50million Portuguese midfielder.
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- Rio Ferdinand describes what went wrong for Manchester United in Europa League final downfall.
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David De Gea snubbed Man Utd keeper coach instructions leading to the Europa League loss to Villarreal
