Life as a back-up goalkeeper must be a strange one – but life as a Manchester United back-up goalkeeper must be even stranger.
For long stretches throughout United’s history, there has been a recognised number one between the sticks.
Peter Schmeichel set the benchmark with eight years of repeated success and glory.
Fabien Barthez had large gloves to fill and, despite failing to convince everyone, managed two Premier League titles in three seasons.
Then came Edwin van de Sar, who still has the best games-to-clean-sheet ratio of any United keeper who has made more than 50 top-flight appearances.
Henderson coming for De Gea
Since 2011, David De Gea has fended off any challengers to his crown in the Red Devils goal.
That was until Dean Henderson shook the Spaniard’s once rock solid foundations for large parts of last season.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer juggled the shot-stoppers following some error-prone performances by De Gea.
Henderson played 26 times across all competitions last term, leaving some fans to wonder whether the first-choice jersey was about to be his.
However, those thoughts have been squashed following De Gea’s resurgence in the past few months. The Spain international has arguably been United’s most consistent performer in 2021/22, which says a lot about the state of the club.
His revival has seen Henderson slump back to the bench, limiting the understudy to just four outings, none in the league.
Henderson having a hard time
This is understandably causing concern in the Englishman’s camp, as a player with plenty of potential wastes away in the shadows.
In response to the 24-year-old’s lack of game time, Fabrizio Romano claimed Henderson would look to leave Old Trafford in January or the summer. And who can blame him, considering his lack of opportunities.
A move away from Manchester seems only right, especially as Ralf Rangnick can cope without his services at the minute.
Alongside Henderson, United have three experienced goalies in their ranks. Tom Heaton and Lee Grant provide decent cover for De Gea, who could feasibly play every single match between now and May.
Matej Kovar is a another promising talent coming through the ranks at Carrington.
Henderson, meanwhile, will have ambitions of representing England at next winter’s World Cup in Qatar. To achieve that, he needs more minutes under his belt.
United should set him free so he can rediscover his golden touch.
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