The Spain goalkeeper has made a habit of falling short of expectations for his country of late, but what is behind his downturn in form?
How many rare errors can somebody make before the word ‘rare’ no longer applies?
David de Gea, the absolute model of consistency when pulling on a Manchester United shirt, has suffered the kind of run of form playing for Spain that would see many a fellow goalkeeper thrown to the lions.
Mistakes will always punctuate the career of a number one but it is generally the frequency that is considered the ultimate barometer of a keeper’s value.