Former Manchester United goalkeeping coach Coton slams De Gea criticism

28-Jan-2013 1:43:00 AM

The 51-year-old has hit out at those who "point the finger" at the Spanish shot-stopper in the wake of defeats and expressed delight at his continued inclusion in the first team

Former Manchester United goalkeeping coach Tony Coton has jumped to the defence of David de Gea, describing criticism of the club's current shot-stopper as "over the top".

The 22-year-old came under fire last week after his weak punch allowed Clint Dempsey to earn Tottenham a 1-1 draw against the league leaders in the dying seconds at White Hart Lane.

But, after Sir Alex Ferguson decided to stick with the former Atletico Madrid star for Saturday's 4-1 win over Fulham, Coton has spoken out in support of De Gea. He told MUTV: "The criticism of De Gea has not just been over the top this week, it has been all season.

"Whenever a goal goes in they seem to point the finger at David. I hoped he would play, just to shut the rumours up that he had been dropped."

Coton also explained that the pursuit of top goalkeeping targets is not as easy as observers might think.

He added: "Over the years we looked at a lot. We looked at Buffon but there was no way we could get him. He just didn't want to come out of Italy.

"We tried to get Edwin Van Der Sar a lot earlier than we did but it didn't happen. It is not a matter of 'it is Manchester United we must be able to get them'. There are certain situations when you can't."

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