Manchester United goalkeeping legend Alex Stepney gives his opinion on the start the club have made to the new season and assesses the goalkeeping situation at Old Trafford.
Stepney is pleased that his old club have made a positive start to the season, something he insists is important: “Louis came in last year and at the start of the season you would have snapped anybody’s hand off if they said we were going to finish fourth but we did, we got there eventually.
“United have made a good start to this season and it takes time for a manager to weigh things up about what he has and hasn’t got. We’ve played three games now and we’ve only conceded one goal which was an own goal so I think defensively we’ve got it about right.
“Manchester United have always been renowned for scoring lots of goals but the first ten games of the season are always the most important I believe. If you get through them and you’re there or thereabouts at the top of the league you’ve got a chance and I think it will get more entertaining from then on.”
The David De Gea situation has been hanging over the club like a dark cloud for several months and now means that United are unsure of their first choice keeper with the season already underway.
Alex made over 500 appearances in goal for United between 1966 and 1978 and notes how much the game has changed since he played: “It’s the normality now, the game has changed and it’s all about the player now.
“I played 539 games for Manchester United and I wouldn’t have left them for the world. We didn’t have agents and if Sir Matt Busby put a contract in front of you then you signed it. Life’s changed but I wouldn’t have dreamt of wanting to leave United.”
