Sir Alex Ferguson has been here before. A new season and an issue over his goalkeeper. The Manchester United manager will not panic and has no reason to. But after two games and two — arguably three — mistakes from young Spaniard David de Gea, Ferguson will hope his most important summer signing will settle down soon. It is difficult to carry goalkeepers who are low on confidence in the Barclays Premier League.
This - among other things - is why previous United keepers such as Massimo Taibi and Mark Bosnich were jettisoned so quickly. A guy who has the jitters between the posts will spread nervousness throughout the ranks of those in front of him, especially now with Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic absent through injury.
There was evidence of some of that as United won narrowly 2-1 at West Bromwich on Sunday. But, with difficult games against Tottenham, Arsenal, Bolton and Chelsea coming up, former United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel insists 20-year-old De Gea will find his sea legs despite the intense pressure of being at United.
'This is United and Old Trafford. It's different,' said the Dane. 'I have watched De Gea play in Spain and every time I saw him I was very impressed. 'He was impressive in the Under 21 Championship in the summer, too. But, as I say, this is different; even if you played at a club with a lot of pressure, like Atletico Madrid.'
Such was Schmeichel's own standing at United on his retirement in 1999 that subsequent goalkeepers like Taibi, Bosnich, Tim Howard, Roy Carroll and, to a lesser degree, Fabien Barthez found it too much to try to replace him. De Gea, for his part, must replace Edwin van der Sar. But Spain No 1 Iker Casillas said: 'He is only 20. He has a long road ahead of him but he is a great person and a good professional.'