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Erik ten Hag praises David de Gea’s mentality and attitude ahead of Sheriff clash

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has heaped praise on David de Gea’s mentality and attitude ahead of the club’s Europa League clash against Sheriff Tiraspol.

The Red Devils are due to face the Moldovan outfit on the road this evening. Ahead of the game, Ten Hag spoke about De Gea, who accompanied him in yesterday’s press conference.

The Spaniard has been an undisputed starter in goal for over a decade at United and Ten Hag said that his experience helps a lot in organising and leading the backline.

He told Manutd.com: “That is clear – his experience helps us a lot. He organises and he leads the back four. It’s really important to give the team the right mentality and the attitude to win games.”

Ten Hag showing his trust towards David de Gea

There has been much talk of De Gea being replaced since Ten Hag took charge. The Spaniard is not the best when it comes to distributing or making high claims in the box.

Despite this, the 31-year-old is gifted with superb reflexes between the sticks, and he has proven time and time again that he can be a reliable shot-stopper for United.

His season did not start on a bright note with a couple of blunders, but Ten Hag stuck with him in goal. The decision has paid dividends with De Gea back to his very best.

Ten Hag has now publicly displayed his trust towards the Spaniard, and the onus is now on De Gea to repay the faith by making slight improvements to suit the manager’s system.

Playing out from the back does not come natural to him, but De Gea has been working on it. He still needs to be more commanding by cutting out on those early crosses.