Manchester United’s no.1 goalkeeper David De Gea has been on the receiving end for more than two months because of his poor performance at the goal-site.
His blunders the critics say are very much avoidable with others saying he should have been substituted with keeper number two, Sergio Romelu.
But they are people like any other, they forget what the keeper has been doing for a very long time, being even named the player of the month and of the month too.
He has however found the support of the manager Ole Gunnar, Juan Mata and Lukaku among others and to the list, one of the keeper legends ofUnited has also come to his defence.
Legendary and former United keeper, Peter Schmeichel has also leapt to David De Gea’s defence and branded “out of order” critics of the Manchester United goalkeeper.
De Gea has come in for criticism following a series of high-profile mistakes against Barcelona, Manchester City and Chelsea in recent weeks.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has stood by his No.1 keeper, despite De Gea’s dip in form, with United legend Schmeichel also defending the 28-year-old stopper.
Schmeichel criticised those calling for De Gea to be dropped and said the Spain No.1 deserved better given his heroics for United over recent years.
“Let me say exactly what I feel about that,” said Schmeichel, United’s first-choice keeper from 1991 to 1999.
“I think everyone who is jumping on that bandwagon, saying ‘drop De Gea’ and all of that, are so far out of order.
“The guy has been playing in the same team that hasn’t been performing well for a long time and he’s been absolutely outstanding.
“And as soon as he makes, you know, the smallest mistake, then everyone jumps on him, and I think it’s unfair.
“For me, I just want to say this and end it.
“As far as I’m concerned, I think you should have a little bit of consideration towards him because I think it’s out of order.
“That’s as much as I’m going to say about that.”
Schmeichel was speaking ahead of the Treble reunion match at Old Trafford later this month, to mark the 20th anniversary of United’s dramatic Champions League triumph over Bayern Munich.
United’s team from that historic night will take on Bayern in a repeat of the encounter, which the Reds won 2-1, with goals in added time from Teddy Sheringham and current boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Former United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will return to the dug-out, with the estimated £1million proceeds going to the Manchester United Foundation to support their work with young people across Greater Manchester.
Schmeichel, captain for United’s epic win 20 years ago in the absence of the suspended Roy Keane, is relishing meeting up with his old team-mates and reliving their unique achievement.
“I’m very excited about it,” said Schmeichel. “I’m very proud to have been part of that team.
“If you think about what we went through, especially in the last part of that season, how many close calls we had.
“The FA Cup game against Liverpool 1-0 down at Old Trafford, then we win it 2-1 in normal time.
“The Juventus semi-final, obviously the final, the semi-final in the FA Cup against Arsenal, how close all those games were and the fact we came out on top, really riding our luck at times.
“It just shows you what an incredible achievement it has been for the club, the players and the fans.
“The experience we had at the time was that the game is never finished before the referee says so.
“It was a luxury only being 1-0 down in the final. Bayern hit the bar and the post, so it could have been finished way before.
“But at 1-0 there was always a chance. We knew a free-kick or a corner could change the course of the game, and it did.
“We never stopped. That was the mentality and strength of that team.”