Manchester United FC

Manchester United are now ready to consider offers for Cristiano Ronaldo. #MUFC [@talkSPORT]

The Portuguese is said to be a negative presence at the club, hardly communicates with his team-mates in the canteen and has made no secret of his desire to move away via @sistoney67 #MUFC

Senior figures have been alarmed at how quickly the overwhelmingly positive feelings around the camp generated during a successful pre-season tour to Thailand and Australia have disappeared via @sistoney67 #MUFC

Manchester United could let Cristiano Ronaldo leave Old Trafford during the current transfer window amid concerns about how the striker's mood is affecting morale in the camp via @sistoney67 #MUFC

Compare this to Brighton's goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez (a fellow spanish goalkeeper). Robert Sanchez's long distribution gave Brighton an outlet in possession — he could find their runners, in the game especially Danny Welbeck, in space and immediately transition from defence to attack. This can be seen as early as eight minutes into the game at Old Trafford. The second line of Brighton’s pressure (Leandro Trossard and Welbeck) is positioned to pounce on short passing options (red arrows). A goalkeeper more comfortable on the ball could help United evade this trap by playing it long. However, De Gea’s poor accuracy in long-range passing inevitably means the opposition would regain possession. There are many options — but with De Gea, United are limited. To say our problems start and end with De Gea is misguided. But as long as we insist on playing him, his liability on the ball and resistance towards stepping off his line will cost them as long as we try to implement Ten Hag's system to build out from the back and create chances. United have conceded six goals in two games, and De Gea was at least partially culpable for four of those due to his lack of proactivity. In both games, he was outperformed by his Spanish counterparts. The game has moved on and De Gea has not. Manchester United need to get with the times.

In today's day and age, goalkeepers are no longer just shot-stoppers. There was a time when the goalkeeper’s only responsibility was to keep the ball out of their net and kick it long. However, the role of the goalkeeper has evolved over the last decade first with Edwin van der Sar, then Manuel Neuer, and more recently Allison and Ederson. Goalkeepers now must be proactive in the way they contribute in possession (ball-playing in build-up) and out of possession (cross-claiming, sweeping). The truth is that De Gea is a goalkeeper stuck in a different age. Even Spain refuse to pick De Gea as part of their World Cup squad due to their recognition of De Gea's limitations; instead choosing Unai Simon as first choice regardless of De Gea's shot stopping ability. It's clear that last season, De Gea was arguably our only stand out player. De Gea’s best attribute, you can argue, is shot-stopping. Howrver, he isn’t comfortable with the ball at his feet and rarely comes off his line, which also means he faces shots at a higher rate to compensate. That is also not possible to sustain over an entire season (as seen from last season, where his goalkeeping numbers significantly deteriorated ss the season went on). As seen from the statistics above, De Gea is the least proactive goalkeeper in the Premier League, ranking the lowest for cross engagement. He rarely comes off his line and tends to punch crosses away rather than catch them, leaving United vulnerable. Having a goalkeeper who engages with crosses would bring so many benefits, making the team stronger when defending corners and in open play, particularly when their defenders have been pulled out of position. If De Gea was safely taking possession of crosses as frequently as Alisson or Ederson, he could also provide a springboard to make United more effective on the counter-attack. That is why teams never press City or Liverpool high as they do with us. Firstly, they have highly technical players capable of playing through the press, secondly, the distribution ability of their goalkeepers to punish them on the break. Every season we play with De Gea, we are leaving all this potential untapped. There is a reason why Klopp chose to invest 70 million on Alisson the season after reaching the Champions League Final. Onto the other aspect of being a modern, proactive goalkeeper: ball playing. Goalkeepers are now the most frequent (and, arguably, most important) starting point of a team’s build-up. Not only must they be able to find the free man with a direct ball in behind the opposition, but they must also release passes under the pressure of a high press. A goalkeeper involved in the build-up helps a team cope with opposition forwards constantly closing down the centre-halves, or a mid-block that has shut out the central midfielders. In the Premier League, having a goalkeeper who is competent on the ball helps provide numerical superiority. But with De Gea, Manchester United are always one man down in possession. The defenders do not have an outlet on the ball, so the team struggle more than they should when playing through a press. This, of course, isn’t entirely De Gea's fault — McFred bear the ultimate blame for being terrible on the ball and incapable of playing through lines. However, it exacerbates the problem. Take the 2-1 loss to Brighton as an example. We struggled against Brighton's high press.To escape it, we needed to either play through the press, over it or around it. Playing through it, given McFred, is impossible. Playing over the press also becomes an impossible option given De Gea’s distribution limitations over longer distances. When De Gea got the ball, the best he could do was quickly lay it off wide to another centreback, making it much harder for United to play their way out of trouble.

Statistic: David de Gea is the least proactive goalkeeper in the premier league

A core of senior players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes, have told the club hierarchy they need help in the form of new signings before the window closes on September 1 [@DiscoMirror]

Rival watch: Darwin Nunez has been sent off against Crystal Palace. This will rule him out for Liverpool's match against us

Manchester United are talking with Matheus Cunha’s agent. [@JonathanShrager] #MUFC

Breaking: Manchester United are close to signing Matheus Cunha from Atlético Madrid for around €50m. #MUFC [@talkSPORT]

✅ Gary Neville: “Manchester United has become a graveyard for footballers.” #MUFC @SkySportsPL 🔴

#mufc are still attempting to recruit Frenkie de Jong and working on adding both competition for David de Gea and much-needed reinforcements up front #mulive [@TheAthleticUK]

A source said Ten Hag's session in 30 degrees heat left the Manchester United players "in ruins". [@samuelluckhurst] #MUFC

Erik ten Hag's decision to retain Harry Maguire as United captain is not fully supported by the squad, with a number of high-profile players still sceptical of Maguire's rank and its privilege of a starting role. [@samuelluckhurst] #MUFC

Cristiano Ronaldo's desire to leave has also contributed to a fraught atmosphere in the first-team squad, with some teammates hopeful he will leave United as they believe the atmosphere would improve. [@samuelluckhurst] #MUFC

🗞 Sources close to some #mufc first-team players say there was a huge dressing room argument at the club's Carrington training complex on Thursday. [Samuel Luckhurst, MEN]

Having wanted to give the #mufc players a chance to prove themselves this season, Erik ten Hag appears to have accepted he needs to accelerate change #mulive [@JBurtTelegraph]

Anthony Martial is now back training with the #mufc first team #mulive [@AdamCrafton_]