Luis Enrique has defended David de Gea after the Manchester United shot-stopper was criticised for Spain’s loss to Ukraine on Tuesday night.
Spain’s 15-match unbeaten run came to an end after losing 1-0 to Ukraine on Tuesday night in the UEFA Nations League.
The result was in no way the reflection of the match as Enrique’s side dominated Ukraine in Kyiv for the majority of the tie but their failure to convert from any of their chances backfired as Viktor Tsygankov caught David de Gea off the line to score in match-winning late in the second half.
De Gea has already been slated over his performances for both Man United and Spain but Luis Enrique, who previously managed Barcelona, refused to lay Spain’s loss on the 29-year-old.
‘You can always do more, but blaming De Gea is already a bad habit,’ said Luis Enrique.
‘If David is blamed for a game like this, switch it off and we’ll leave.
‘If you attack in a continuous way, you know there are transitions.
‘If a team defends and keeps it at 0-0, they grow, and in one action they’ve caught us. We have to congratulate them.
‘Nothing happens because in one or two games you don’t score goals.
‘We created chances to kill them off. It was a game clearly under our control, with opponents closing the passes and the passing lines.
‘We created chances with Adama [Traore] through his overlapping. In the end, we went into panic mode. I’ve lost lots of these games in my career. The opponent is growing and then in a transition…
‘The conclusion is I liked the attitude of the players. I like what I see.’
David de Gea will return to Old Trafford on Thursday in a bid to prepare for Manchester United clash against Newcastle United on Saturday.
The Reds will face the Magpies away from home before travelling to France on October 20 to lock horns with Paris Saint-Germain at Parc des Princes in the Champions League.
Four days later, Man United will host top-four rivals, Chelsea, at Old Trafford, a clash Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can’t afford to lose, considering he recently lost 6-1 to Tottenham at home.
