Dean Henderson has to be our #1 next season? Poll added

Who should be our first choice GK next season?


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Well first of all he got better stats than De Gea this season, more clean sheets and less goals conceded in similar no. of games played.

Then if we look at the type of saves he has made this season:
(video)
Seems quite good at making saves and blocking goals, not bad reflex too, quite impressive.

I have never seen him much so its hard to judge, but everything looking good from the look of it.

Good saves by Henderson. Worst "music" ever in a highlight reel.
 
Romero isnt a future United number 1 though.
Romero is incredibley solid but he isnt special. David and Dean are.
Its like Courtois for your lot at Atletico. David has a year left after next, hes not staying beyond that

His contract runs out in 2023 and you have an option to extend it one more after that=.

That's 3 more seasons (after this one) if you don't extend..
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
2022/23

Henderson might wait that long I guess.
 
He seems to parry a lot.

I think he needs another year on loan .
He has 1 years PL experience and Sheff Utd are having a one of a kind season.

There is a lot of pressure playing in goal for Utd as we’ve found out down through the years.

He does, but into good areas. That is one thing I like about De Gea, he holds a lot but I guess younger goalkeepers learn the game differently.
 
He’s been outstanding this season, and in my opinion the best in the Premier League along with Allison.

I’d love Ole to be bold and flog DDG and bring Hendo in, but he probably won’t do it this summer.
 
And do what exactly? Unless we're willing to bench DDG (which is unlikely given his wages), Hendo will tell us to do one and will find a club willing to give him the #1 jersey.


That is my fear too. Was Henderson a United fan growing up I wonder? If he was that might mean he might be more willing to wait a season or 2 before getting the #1 jersey.
 
I'd be interested to see a poll on this.

Personally I'd like to see him stay at Sheffield for another season, but with reassurances that he is firmly in our plans for the future. I can't see that raising any problems for him, for Sheffield or for us. He gets to be #1 in a thriving team. They get probably their best player this season back for another year. We get to see whether this is really his level or just a purple patch before we consider taking the plunge of replacing one of the best keepers in the world.
 
I'd be interested to see a poll on this.

Personally I'd like to see him stay at Sheffield for another season, but with reassurances that he is firmly in our plans for the future. I can't see that raising any problems for him, for Sheffield or for us. He gets to be #1 in a thriving team. They get probably their best player this season back for another year. We get to see whether this is really his level or just a purple patch before we consider taking the plunge of replacing one of the best keepers in the world.
Definitely one more season on loan there if we can manage it, and if he's okay with it.

There's a chance Sheffield could even be in a European competition next season so that'll do wonders for his experience. Let him stay there while we put the finishing touches on our team, then hopefully the state of the team will be more stable by the time Henderson comes back.

Don't think Henderson should be thrust right into it though, split the games between him and De Gea and ease him into it.
 
Don't think Henderson should be thrust right into it though, split the games between him and De Gea and ease him into it.

I'm not sure that would be a good idea. The one thing guaranteed to make it hard for a keeper to make a good start in a new side is to not commit to him straight away as #1. Drop him after a good game and he can't build momentum. Drop him after a bad one and it piles too much pressure on mistakes. We made a success of De Gea by sticking with him despite those early mistakes and the hysterical media pressure at the time.

Plus after everything De Gea has done for us - not just his brilliance, but his consummate professionalism amidst the almost perennial transfer uncertainty - we owe it to him to make it a clean break when we do decide to move on. When we're ready, we can sell him to Madrid and send him off with best wishes and no hard feelings, not muck him around giving him half game time for a year. After all, we have the best, most reliable #2 in the league in Romero, so an excellent insurance policy against Henderson not making the grade.
 
I'm not sure that would be a good idea. The one thing guaranteed to make it hard for a keeper to make a good start in a new side is to not commit to him straight away as #1. Drop him after a good game and he can't build momentum. Drop him after a bad one and it piles too much pressure on mistakes. We made a success of De Gea by sticking with him despite those early mistakes and the hysterical media pressure at the time.

Plus after everything De Gea has done for us - not just his brilliance, but his consummate professionalism amidst the almost perennial transfer uncertainty - we owe it to him to make it a clean break when we do decide to move on. When we're ready, we can sell him to Madrid and send him off with best wishes and no hard feelings, not muck him around giving him half game time for a year. After all, we have the best, most reliable #2 in the league in Romero, so an excellent insurance policy against Henderson not making the grade.
What makes you think Madrid still want him? They have dropped their interest as soon as they got Courtois, and after de Gea's pay rise and series of mistakes, I can hardly imagine any team willing to offer a 375k per week contract to him.

From what I see, de Gea is destined to stay till contract expiry, no matter he wants it or not. That means Henderson has to wait for at least 3 more years to become our no. 1, I'm not sure whether he's got that patience.
 
What makes you think Madrid still want him? They have dropped their interest as soon as they got Courtois, and after de Gea's pay rise and series of mistakes, I can hardly imagine any team willing to offer a 375k per week contract to him.

From what I see, de Gea is destined to stay till contract expiry, no matter he wants it or not. That means Henderson has to wait for at least 3 more years to become our no. 1, I'm not sure whether he's got that patience.

Yeah I don't really know either way. I think they would still love to get him - he's one of those world-class Spaniards that they always lust after these days because Barca's 2009-onwards super-side gave them a real inferiority complex about being an authentic Spanish side. But it's probably less on the cards than it was. I think he'd probably take a pay cut to go there - let's face it, that's why we're having to pay him 375k per week, to keep him out of their hands. But obviously he would still command a big old wage, 250k at least.
 
De Gea is and rightly so should be no1. yes his performances have dropped so has everyone. I do feel for while we should have dropped him for a few league games for Romero to give him rocket up ass. Henderson is playing for a side with absolutely no pressure on them. If the league was to come back on and Sheff Utd lost every game from now until end of season the league would still be a success. Id leave him with Sheff Utd another season see how it goes when they will be expected to stay in Euro positions
 
Not sure improving a team we're competing with is the smartest move in the world but it must be the best experience he could get.
 
Admire the lads determination to be no.1 at United, just can't see it happening, he's not tall enough for starters.

Wiki has him at 1.88m, which is the same height as Oblak and Ederson, while Ter Stegen is 1.87m so not sure his height will have that much of an impact on him being number one at United.

To be honest I haven't seen Henderson play, so unable to asses his ability to dislodge De Gea, all I know is that De Gea has been off form for close to two years now.
 
Wiki has him at 1.88m, which is the same height as Oblak and Ederson, while Ter Stegen is 1.87m so not sure his height will have that much of an impact on him being number one at United.

To be honest I haven't seen Henderson play, so unable to asses his ability to dislodge De Gea, all I know is that De Gea has been off form for close to two years now.

I think De Gea needs replacing and have for a while, and as a proud Lancastrian who spends a lot of time in Whitehaven(his birthplace), and Carlisle(where we signed him from) i'd love to see Henderson become the no.1 but I just don't see it, he doesn't look 6'2" for starters, it's hard to explain, Shay Given was over 6 foot apparently but only looked 5'8, and then there's the difference between playing for Sheffield United where if he drops a blooper 30,000 Yorkies are unhappy for a few hours, to making a mistake at United where the press are on his case instantly saying he's the worst United keeper since Paddy Roche, it's a totally different world, only the very best can overcome that.

I'll gladly comeback in 18 months if he's our no.1 and admit I got it badly wrong.
 
Lets be honest, with the contract De Gea signed theres no way we are moving on him this summer and Henderson wont accept being number 2 after the season he’s had.

Maybe Henderson accepts another loan, but if he doesnt he should sell him with a buyback clause included. That way in two-three years if he’s continued to improve we can get him back at a good price and then he’ll have a chance to be the starter here.
 
What makes you think Madrid still want him? They have dropped their interest as soon as they got Courtois, and after de Gea's pay rise and series of mistakes, I can hardly imagine any team willing to offer a 375k per week contract to him.

From what I see, de Gea is destined to stay till contract expiry, no matter he wants it or not. That means Henderson has to wait for at least 3 more years to become our no. 1, I'm not sure whether he's got that patience.
If DDG is no longer first choice here, I expect he'll be willing to drop his wage demands to be #1 somewhere else. Or we might subsidise his wages for a couple of years.

I doubt we'll drop him down the pecking order anytime soon though. Not unless he starts regularly performing like he was in the last few months of last season again.
 
Henderson should take Romeros role, playing in cup competitions/back up. Then challenging De Gea for number 1 spot. This will give De Gea a kick up the arse and I bet he will get back to his best. I find it really hard replacing Romero though. Best number 2 easily. No complaints and just does the job.
 
If DDG is no longer first choice here, I expect he'll be willing to drop his wage demands to be #1 somewhere else. Or we might subsidise his wages for a couple of years.

I doubt we'll drop him down the pecking order anytime soon though. Not unless he starts regularly performing like he was in the last few months of last season again.
I don't think de Gea will be dropped either, given Ole's choice to stick with him even when he kept making mistakes. That's why some of us worry about Henderson's future.

Ideally Henderson could be loaned out for another season or kept here as a backup keeper, but I doubt whether he's got the patience waiting for de Gea to step down given his potential. For me I think he's got the immediate ability to be our starter.

Of course I know some of you may think he needs to further prove himself before becoming our no. 1, and I totally respect that kind of opinion.
 
Haven’t listen to the podcast yet but this could be relevant, if anyone is interested.



Starts at 17:00 minutes.
 
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We just gave De Gea the biggest contract ever handed out to a goalkeeper. 0% chance Henderson is number 1 next season barring injury
 
Excellent for us but it's ludicrous how big clubs are able to offload the risk management inherent in developing youth players, yet can reap the benefits of a cheap, finally refined player.
 
Excellent for us but it's ludicrous how big clubs are able to offload the risk management inherent in developing youth players, yet can reap the benefits of a cheap, finally refined player.

It's not ludicrous at all. Simple transfer of risk, the same as most types of insurance that you can get.
 
Excellent for us but it's ludicrous how big clubs are able to offload the risk management inherent in developing youth players, yet can reap the benefits of a cheap, finally refined player.

I think the goalkeeping situation is a specific case. We're not typically a club that loans our players for the benefit of their development, usually it's done internally. There can only be one main goalkeeper so that's why he was sent on loan.
 
Henderson is still very young and its a totally different prospect playing well for Shef Utd and being under pressure at United. Few bad games and it might destroy him. He is a great keeper but lets handle him gently. A few years on loan would be the best path for him.
 
Lets see if we are able to sell De Gea to PSG, Juve or Real next year.
 
What's the deets?

Hoek said that he still believes that De Gea is top keeper and has trust in him. He actually believes that he did really well for past two years despite the criticism.
Henderson has done really well as well, but there is a difference in playing for Sheffield United and MU — everything at Man Utd will be scrutinised etc. Henderson should get more experience playing for England and at Sheffield etc and then in a years time we will have a decision to make.

Personally, I agree with that. Lad is 23 year of age — that fairly young for a keeper and he should bide his time, when the time comes he can come back and compete with De Gea for the first spot.
 
Hoek said that he still believes that De Gea is top keeper and has trust in him. He actually believes that he did really well for past two years despite the criticism.
Henderson has done really well as well, but there is a difference in playing for Sheffield United and MU — everything at Man Utd will be scrutinised etc. Henderson should get more experience playing for England and at Sheffield etc and then in a years time we will have a decision to make.

Personally, I agree with that. Lad is 23 year of age — that fairly young for a keeper and he should bide his time, when the time comes he can come back and compete with De Gea for the first spot.

I don’t think GK is really a position you ‘compete’ for. De Gea needs to go for Henderson to ever get a proper chance.
 
I don’t think GK is really a position you ‘compete’ for. De Gea needs to go for Henderson to ever get a proper chance.

ter Stegen had games in CL and CDR when he went to Barcelona so I don’t see why Henderson can’t get enough here to prove himself. It’s a competitive game at the end of the day, and unless we’re sure he’s our number one - which we’re not - we should play it cautiously. Especially seeing as we’ve seen plenty of promising keepers come to OT and look poor.
 
Interested to see how Ole will manage this.

PL era, we've never had any youth GK that made it, would be great if Dean could be the first.
Would be shocked if Henderson didn't go out on loan again. Think we'll see 1 or 2 more years out of De Gea before Henderson comes in as the starter and we move De Gea on? But Ole already said he's the future starter... just years lining up awkwardly.
 
Would be shocked if Henderson didn't go out on loan again. Think we'll see 1 or 2 more years out of De Gea before Henderson comes in as the starter and we move De Gea on? But Ole already said he's the future starter... just years lining up awkwardly.
Dean is ambitious isn't he. Wonder if he's willing to wait that long

It's a "nice" problem to have in a way.
 
Dean is ambitious isn't he. Wonder if he's willing to wait that long

It's a "nice" problem to have in a way.

I think there's still scope for him to progress his career while at Sheffield United, for a while at least.

In fact his chances of establishing himself as England's #1 would probably be hindered by coming back here to compete with De Gea next season rather than playing week in week out where he is.
 
Imagine having England's number one on our books and he wouldn't even be 4th choice at the club next season :drool:
 
Interested to see how Ole will manage this.

PL era, we've never had any youth GK that made it, would be great if Dean could be the first.

Henderson has made it quite clear he dreams of playing for United (the real United).

Can't see him moving on when there is a route for him.
 
The Hendo situation is fairly easy to manage in my opinion, dependent on whether Romero is leaving (I seem to recall hearing he likely will). For all of Hendo's heroics this season, he's a 23-yr old at Sheffield United. Like many have pointed out, the expectation levels are worlds apart. He needs patience and good guidance. Come back to United as Number 2. He'll get Cup games to show his worth, get to learn from DDG and seamlessly take over if he proves himself. VDS played over 200 games for us after joining at 35. Hendo's career has barely started...