How Kevin Trapp compares to David De Gea

We’ve checked out the German goalkeeper and detailed how he compares to David De Gea. 

 

Manchester United’s new system 

It did come as somewhat of a surprise that Man United decided to loan out Dean Henderson as he looked like a more suitable fit for United’s new system. 

He was desperate for first team football though and so Man United decided to sanction a loan move to Nottingham Forest. 

That now leaves United with just David De Gea and Tom Heaton as their senior goalkeepers and neither of them are naturally great with the ball at their feet. 

Ten Hag has already started to establish his new system and as we saw against Brighton and Brentford, De Gea will be required to get on the ball more often that he had done previously. 

Distribution has never been a particularly strong part of De Gea’s game though, so far this season he has only attempted 18 passes per 90, which is the fewest of any Premier League goalkeeper. 

For context, Dean Henderson ranks second in the Premier League for this with 34 passes attempted per 90. 

Typically, De Gea doesn’t get too involved in the build-up play as he only averages 26.6 touches per game. 

Kevin Trapp ranks slightly better in this regard as he takes 38.59 touches per 90. 

Another example of what’s required from modern goalkeepers is the ability to become a sweeper keeper to allow your defensive line to push further up the pitch. 

An area where De Gea sometimes comes in for scrutiny as he tends to hang back on his line. 

Kevin Trapp would prove to be an upgrade in this area as he averaged 0.84 defensive actions outside the penalty area per 90, compared to De Gea who manages just 0.28. 

De Gea ranks within the bottom 5% of goalkeepers across Europe’s top five leagues when it comes to these sweeping actions, which is obviously a cause for concern for Erik ten Hag. 

Trapp is marginally better when it comes to stopping crosses as he stops 5.3% of crosses compared to De Gea who stops 3.3% of crosses. 

 

Shot stopping 

Although some inconsistencies have started to creep into De Gea’s game, the best attribute he brings to Manchester United is his shot-stopping ability. 

So far this season he has actually underperformed his post-shot expected goals by one goal, most of this will be attributed to the Brentford game. 

Last season De Gea was one of the best shot-stoppers across Europe’s top five leagues. 

The Spaniard overperformed his post-shot expected goals by 6.7 last season, which was the fifth biggest overperformance across Europe’s top five leagues. 

For this reason, De Gea proves to be somewhat of a conundrum for Erik ten Hag. 

There’s no doubting his elite shot-stopping ability, but is ten Hag willing to sacrifice his goalkeeper getting involved in the build-up play? 

In comparison to De Gea, Trapp doesn’t quite match him when it comes to shot-stopping, but that’s not to say it’s a weakness of his game. 

Last season in the Bundesliga, Trapp overperformed his post-shot expected goals by 1.3 in total. 

In conclusion, Trapp slightly edges it over De Gea when it comes to distribution and sweeping actions, but he is not as good at shot-stopping. 

The German goalkeeper would be a worthy back-up to push De Gea and perhaps stake a claim for a spot in the starting 11. 

Erik ten Hag has a clear vision for Manchester United and there’s every chance that De Gea could get left behind if he isn’t able to adapt to the new system.