Despite being one of the best in the world in his position, there are a couple of areas where Mike Maignan has uncharacteristically struggled with lately.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Mazzitelli’s goal in Frosinone left a lasting impression on everyone because it was from a narrow angle and it seemed to go through the Frenchman.
Many factors come into play in every single save. In this specific case, the ball bobbled a few centimetres before Mike’s outstretched leg, and went over it. However, there remains the feeling that he is not saving what he was before.
The other problem is that Maignan had conceded a similar one from Joshua Zirkzee seven days earlier. In that case it was a certainly higher difficulty coefficient, but again the ball took a slight deviation that was enough to get through him.
Against Frosinone after about 40 seconds he also missed an easy pass to Yacine Adli which could have cost him very dearly (thankfully Soulé wasted the chance).
When we talk about Maignan the first thing that comes to mind is certainly not the indecisions, but the great saves. Like the ones on Celik (Roma), Mandragora (Fiorentina), Mazzocchi (Salernitana), Cuni (Frosinone in the first leg), Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle).
A penalty save could perhaps be useful to him, though. Maignan has often been a nightmare for those who shoot from the spot, but the last save dates back to April 2023 (on Kvara, in the Champions League), which was followed by seven penalties he did not stop.
However, those who observe him every day at Milanello have no doubts: Maignan is the usual Maignan. Focused, professional and a leader.
I think… people need to give him some time and he’ll be back to his old self.
@Goku. I think Milan needs to cash in on him this summer for 60m and get De Gea on a free transfer.
Maignan is on a decline and at 28yrs old there’s no point in paying a goalkeeper 7-9m salary that is requesting.
When your solution is DDG, you should stop posting. DDG makes twice as many mistakes as Mike and is older.
De Gea has declined so badly he couldn’t even get an offer from Saudi Arabia. And they giving contracts out candy to any “has been” they could find. In fact he’s so awful not even lower division teams want him. Dude was making mistakes every other game for United.
Harry Maguire and David De Gea were a laughing stock for United fans.
Oh no… is this guy going to tell us we need to sell Tomori and sign Maguire next on a free transfer lolololol wait and see!!!
ZionTrain is one person I can’t seriously.
Lmao De Gea
Strongly disagree. A goalkeeper doesn’t decline at 28. Hitting a rough patch in form is just one issue. And De Gea is absolute rubbish. Nobody wants him. Not even any second division team in Spain.
In fact Manchester United struggles were often tied to mistakes he made. De Gea is an awful keeper and an absolute bum. He didn’t even get an offer from Saudi Arabia.
Horrible suggestion. I’d rather we sign some teenager and then start Sportiello instead of signing that useless bum.
David De Gea.
What next?
Sell Tomori, pocket the money and sign Harry Maguire on a free transfer…
I swear some on here are high on their own supply.
Every player experiences dips in form.
The secret to successful sides is keeping players playing at close to the top of their form for as long as possible.
This is very difficult for many reasons.
I saw a post from Gary Neville on LinkedIn where he talked about a game he played against Real Madrid in the Champions League in 99/00 (the season after the Treble) where they lost the second leg at home 3:2, and he made some mistakes.
He described his head space in that game:
“It’s the only period in my career where I didn’t want the ball and this match was right at the heart of that situation.
In the previous couple of months i’d given away 2 very bad goals in the inaugural world club championship and also had broken up with my girlfriend after 7 years together. I remember during games being distracted and the break up fogging my mind. It had never happened before where a non-work situation had contaminated my professional thinking.”
That was Gary Neville. One of the most professional, reliable players, playing under one of the most terrifying, demanding managers.
It can happen to anyone.
And it might not even be personal. It could be structural which is far harder to deal with. If a number of players at the club are experiencing dips in form then it points to something structurally wrong usually with the manager.
Since Pioli joined Milan most of the players who have played under him and have mostly played somewhere near their top form. Some have struggled but the majority have not. That is a sign that Pioli has done a good job in general.
If we brought in a new manager he might get more from these players, some who are doing well might do less well, and some who are struggling might improve. We simply don’t know because it depends on chemistry and tactics.
It’s got nothing to do with some totally arbitrary ratings of players based on a totally arbitrary opinions of their abilities.
Maignan has already shown he’s one of the best keepers in the world. We don’t need to go looking for a world class keeper if he can refind his form. That’s money and a job saved. So let that be the focus.
Oh my, it is hard to convince these kind of fans. 1 good season is not enough for increase extention. 1 or maybe half bad season is bad enough to cash in a player. I don’t understand with your logic