As goalkeepers go, us United fans have been pretty spoilt over the years, haven’t we? Especially in the last few decades.
From Peter Schmeichel onwards, we have usually had a pretty dependable pair of hands between the posts. What’s more, that person has tended to be at the club for a long time. Sure, there are a few who didn’t last, but the ones who did were world-class.
It’s interesting to look at Manchester United’s last 5 first choice goalkeepers and analyse the differences between them, look into who worked, who didn’t, and why.
I’ve ranked them not by reputation, but by performance, consistency, longevity, and how well they actually did the job.
Tim Howard
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- At United: 2003-2006 (first choice 2003/04)
- PL Appearances: 45
- PL Clean Sheets: 16
- Clean Sheet Percentage: 35.6%
Howard has a decent enough record on paper, but he was only really first choice for the 2003/04 season. He shared responsibilities with Roy Carroll the season after and then Van der Sar came in. For that reason, it’s hard to rank him higher than the others.
He started brightly after his move from MLS in 2003, and even saved a penalty in the Community Shield against Arsenal. This raised expectations for fans, as it looked like Fergie had found another gem.
A high profile mistake against Porto which saw United crash out of the Champions League put the brakes on his Manchester United career. He lost confidence, and the manager began rotating him with Roy Carroll.
By 2005 Van der Sar had arrived, and Howard was never going to reclaim his number one position. He ended up going to Everton where he enjoyed over a decade as their first choice keeper. For us, he was a short term solution that showed promise, but didn’t quite have what it took.
Fabien Barthez
- At United: 2000-2003
- PL Appearances: 92
- PL Clean Sheets: 34
- Clean Sheet Percentage: 36.9%
Signing a goalkeeper who has just won the World Cup should be a no brainer, but in the case of Fabien Barthez, it was a gamble that only partly paid off.
He had been brilliant for France. In fact, he has the best World Cup clean sheet record of any goalie ever (shared with Peter Shilton). However, he had a tendency to be a bit…dramatic.
Barthez was erratic. You would either get a world class keeper with sharp reflexes who wasn’t afraid to play out from the back, or you got an overconfident goalie with poor positioning who was prone to gaffes. To make matters worse, these gaffes usually came in big games.
It was frustrating. He was clearly talented but you never quite knew which Barthez was going to show up. He clearly wasn’t going to be a long term solution, so United moved on.
When he retired from football he became a GT Racer. Like, a proper racing car driver. Just to demonstrate how unpredictable he is!
Andre Onana
- At United: 2023 to Now
- PL Appearances: 72 (first two seasons only)
- PL Clean Sheets: 18
- Clean Sheet Percentage: 25%
I rate Onana more highly than many other fans seem to.
Yes I know he dropped a few clangers for a while, but these seem to be having a disproportionate impact on people’s feelings towards how well he is performing. I’m not trying to tell you he’s one of United’s best goalies, but he’s certainly not as bad as a lot of people are making out.
Remember, he has played behind the worst Manchester United team in decades.
The clean sheets stat looks bad in isolation (it’s actually worse if you look at all games in all competitions), but at the time of writing he has made more saves per 90 minutes than any other Manchester United keeper since 2003/04. In other words, he is playing in a side that gives the opposition way more chances than any other keeper had to deal with, which is probably why his clean sheet percentage is so bad.
He’s done alright under very difficult circumstances. All of the other first choice keepers since Schmeichel have had much less work to do.
David de Gea
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- At United: 2011 to 2023
- PL Appearances: 415
- PL Clean Sheets: 148
- Clean Sheet Percentage: 35.6%
De Gea was one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s last signings, and what a gift he gave the club. It might have ended weird, but for over a decade David de Gea was a very capable pair of hands for us, and for part of that he was arguably the best shot stopper in world football.
He holds the record for the most clean sheets in all competitions for Manchester United, and was also a double Golden Glove winner, first in 2017/18 and again in 2022/23. Yet, he was at his best earlier in his United career, regularly bailing us out and masking the team’s defensive flaws under Moyes, van Gaal, and Mourinho.
Towards the end of the 2018/19 season errors crept in and he lost some of that edge. Don’t get me wrong, he was still one of the best, but he didn’t like coming off his line and suffered some uncharacteristic fumbles. There were also questions raised about his ability to adapt to the modern game. The fact that he won the Golden Glove in his final season in a Manchester United shirt sums up the contradiction.
David de Gea was an incredible servant to the club, even at the end, but he just wasn’t quite as complete or composed as our number one Number 1.
Edwin van der Sar
- At United: 2005 to 2011
- PL Appearances: 186
- PL Clean Sheets: 94
- Clean Sheet Percentage: 50.5%
Look. At. Those. Stats.
With a Premier League clean sheet percentage of 50.5%, how can Edwin van der Sar be anywhere else than number one on this list? The guy once went on a 14 game streak without letting in a single goal. That is a Manchester United record but also a Premier League record. He was 37 when he did it. Just amazing.
He turned up to Old Trafford aged 34 and was our Number 1 for 6 seasons. Calm, assured, and technically brilliant, he fit into the team like a glove. He brought stability after an uncertain six year period of Bosnich, Howard, and Barthez.
Van der Sar was consistently elite. With United he won 4 Premier Leagues, 2 League Cups, a Club World Cup, and a Champions League – not to mention playing in two more Champions League finals, one of which aged 39.
He was the complete package. A giant with great command of the box, full control in the air, a great shot stopper, and excellent at penalties. Remember the 3 in a row he saved against Chelsea to win the 2007 Community Shield? And what about that Champions League final save against Anelka? Edwin was one of the most important signings of the 2000s.
Even Fergie went on record to say that Edwin van der Sar was the best keeper Manchester United had since Peter Schmeichel. Who can argue with that?