Bayern Munich Alumni: Bastian Schweinsteiger recalls David De Gea sought Manuel Neuer comparison

After Liverpool’s 5-0 thrashing of Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, former Bayern Munich and Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger went of BBC 5 Live to discuss what had just unfolded (Daily Mirror). It was an abysmal display from Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side that was pretty well typified with Cristiano Ronaldo’s disallowed goal in the 53rd minute and Paul Pogba’s straight red just 15 minutes into the second half for his dangerous sliding tackle that injured Naby Keita. It was United’s third Premier League loss of the season and they’ve now conceded 15 goals in the league this season.

Arguably, one or two of Liverpool’s five goals could’ve been dealt with slightly better by David De Gea, but he’s hardly the only player to blame for what was a severely underwhelming performance all around. When Schweinsteiger was recapping the match on BBC 5 Live, he recalled his own tenure at Manchester United and how De Gea used to ask him if he was as good as Manuel Neuer. “When I first came to Manchester United De Gea said, ‘Tell me, am I better than Neuer?’ I was like ‘No, you’re not. It is a different level. He was angry, but I explained why. Whenever he had a great game he would ask me again, I would still say he wasn’t on that level,” Schweinsteiger explained.

Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

In total, Schweinsteiger spent two seasons at United after his long tenure at Bayern and before he wound up moving to the Chicago Fire in MLS. He only took part in one encounter against Liverpool, in the 2015/16 season, when United came out 3-1 victors, so he has a taste of just how much the rivalry means to both sets of supporters. While Schweinsteiger justifiably feels that Neuer is a class above De Gea, the goalkeeping situation at United isn’t the be all, end all solution at the moment; it’s a collective effort.

Schweinsteiger said he felt he doesn’t see a clear strategy from this United side, and it was evident in the loss to Liverpool. He said there needs to be an appropriate balance between defense and attack that just isn’t there at the moment. “It is the way that you play, what is your strategy. If you have Cristiano Ronaldo and he takes his breaks from defending, but if he scores you goals in the box, that’s what he does and what you have to know. If you have center backs that can’t create quality passes like Leonardo Bonucci or David Alaba. Everything is more or less clear. Manchester United are still in progress. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keeps mentioning that. It takes too long though for me in my eyes,” the Fußballgott explained.