Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has said he cannot ignore David de Gea’s poor kicking display against Real Betis after the Spanish goalkeeper struggled to play the ball out from the back.
Ten Hag believes De Gea’s distribution has improved this season but highlighted the concern ahead of Manchester United’s home match against Southampton on Sunday.
De Gea’s kicking was particularly poor in the first half of Manchester United’s eventual 4-1 win in the first leg of their round of 16 Europa League tie with Real Betis.
On one occasion De Gea passed the ball straight to Juanmi but Manuel Pellegrini’s side failed to capitalise.
When asked if De Gea can improve on the weakness, Ten Hag replied: “From today I can’t ignore it, but I think we have seen many games he did really well.
“I don’t know what the reason was. There was a lot of wind, a different ball, probably he had some problems with that, but I know we can deal with it and he will do better Sunday.
“We work on that but David is working on that.
“But I think we have seen in this season that he is improving and he will keep improving, I’m sure.”
Ten Hag could have Anthony Martial back in contention for the first time since February 1 but the Dutchman has stressed they have to treat the Frenchman with caution.
Asked if he is wary of Martial suffering another injury setback, Ten Hag said: “Yeah, but I think all the time we had a good plan and it worked until now not always good.
“But he is on his way back, he’s back in training but we will be cautious, yeah.”
Christian Eriksen is another player who has been sidelined through injury for the past few months.
Ten Hag is confident Eriksen, who sustained an ankle injury during United’s FA Cup win over Reading on January 28, will play again this season with the midfielder on course to return in April.
“I think he will play, yeah, definitely,” said Ten Hag.
“But I can’t tell now an expectation, but I think his progress in the rehab is OK, is going according to plan, so we will definitely see him but not before the international break.
“Oh, yes, he is (involved in team talks). But his main focus at the moment is to get back as soon as possible because we need all the players.”
United return to Premier League action against a Southampton side who are second from bottom.
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