Louis van Gaal believes that Sergio Romero has yet to face a serious test of his credentials, despite praising the speed with which the Argentina goalkeeper has settled in at Manchester United amid the continuing exile of David De Gea.
The United manager also said that Javier Hernández must prove that he can handle the pressure of representing the club after the Mexico striker missed a penalty and an open goal during the 4-0 Champions League win away to Club Bruges on Wednesday.
Romero has started all five of United’s matches this season, during which time his goal has been breached just once, even though he missed the majority of pre-season after signing as a free agent less than a fortnight before the start of the new campaign.
Van Gaal has indicated that he will not consider De Gea for selection until after the close of the transfer window on Tuesday after claiming that the Spaniard’s focus had been affected by his desire to join Real Madrid.
De Gea did not even play in a friendly against Ajax on Thursday, when Marcos Rojo, the defender, emerged unscathed from a 60-minute run-out in the 2-1 win. De Gea was, though, named last night in the Spain squad for their European Championship qualifiers against Slovakia and FYR Macedonia. “He is active, training and ready to play,” Vicente Del Bosque, the Spain coach, said.
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Real have not given up hope of luring De Gea, despite balking so far at United’s £33 million valuation, but Romero’s form has been a considerable boon for Van Gaal given the uncertainty over his first-choice goalkeeper’s future, the impending departure of Víctor Valdés for Besiktas and the lack of faith in Anders Lindegaard.
Van Gaal said he had arranged a series of training sessions specially designed to benefit Romero, although he believes tougher tests lie in wait for the 28-year-old.
“We haven’t allowed a lot of shots [at our goal], so I think he [Romero] did very good saves, but until now I think only maybe the save against Bruges at 1-0 up was very important,” the United manager said.
“We have expectations when we buy players, otherwise you don’t buy. The difficulty [for Romero] was co-operation between the new players and him.
“We have had special training sessions and not only with him and the goalkeeping coach [Frans Hoek] but with him and the players. We have given a lot of attention to that so we can overcome that.”
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Hernández looked short of confidence and match sharpness after going on as a substitute against Bruges, the striker missing a penalty after Wayne Rooney had made what Van Gaal described as a “great gesture” by allowing his team-mate to take the spot-kick. He later skied the ball over the crossbar from three yards from a cross by Ashley Young.
“Every player who plays for Manchester United has to cope with that pressure,” the manager said.