Manchester United coach Oli Gunnar Solskjaer believes
goalkeeper David de Gea should have faced Chelsea’s second
goal “100 times out of 100 attempts” after the team lost 3-1 in
the FA Cup semi-final, Sunday.
And the Spanish goalkeeper missed the goal of Olivier Giroud
at the end of the second half, then allowed Mason Mount’s
long-range shot to enter his goal at the beginning of the
second half.
The worrying decline in De Gea’s performance continued,
but Solskjaer continued to support United’s first goalkeeper.
“We cannot talk about David de Gea’s confidence, but he has
a lot of mental strength,” Solskjaer said. “He knows he should
have fought 100 times out of 100 attempts to score but that’s
how football goes.”
Sergio Romero, United’s second goalkeeper, participated in all
previous United matches in the FA Cup, but Solskjaer decided
to use goalkeeper de Gea at Wembley Stadium.
The Norwegian coach said: “I made the decision to involve him
(De Gea) and he was mentally prepared.”
Solskjaer decided strangely to remove Anthony Marcial,
Paul Pogba and Mason Greenwood from the starting lineup
and United did not appear with his usual offensive strength
and could have lost by a bigger margin to Chelsea.
He said: “They participated (Marcel and Pogba) in many
matches, so the decision was about getting them to rest as well
as giving them the opportunity to make the difference when
participating.”
United’s focus will now shift to the English Premier League,
aiming to end the season in the Golden Square to qualify for
the Champions League.
