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Dean Henderson can hardly be blamed for squandering his chance. In a parallel universe, Manchester United allowed him to sign for Ajax on loan, he trained and played with Erik ten Hag for five months, Ten Hag was selected as United’s next permanent manager and installed Henderson as No. 1.
With Ten Hag as his genuine manager at United, Henderson’s chances of achieving the prestige of No. 1 decreased. Now they are almost finished.
Ajax approached United twice to borrow Henderson while Ten Hag was in charge. Edwin van der Sar, then Ajax’s general manager, vocal Henderson fan and hits first baseman at the start of the 2020-21 season.
Henderson’s representatives were investigated through Ajax ahead of the January 2022 move window, as Andre Onana served a nine-month suspension for doping and terminated his contract.
Also read: United moves to Onana deal
Eighteen months later, Onana arrives and Henderson leaves for Ten Hag’s United. Ferris Bueller said it perfectly: “Life goes pretty fast. “
After Ajax was sanctioned, United rejected requests from Newcastle and Watford to sign Henderson on loan. Henderson played once again with Ralf Rangnick, in the first game in February, and was so disappointed that he skipped the first educational sessions with Ten Hag.
Newcastle called Henderson back but lost heart against United for a moment, after trying to point the finger at Jesse Lingard earlier in the year. Burnley were relegated and Nick Pope was permanently available, so Newcastle opted for Pope.
Henderson’s departure remains Nottingham Forest, a bit of a certainty of remaining at the top of the pyramid beyond a momentary season. Once the budding No. 1 at United and England, Henderson relies on injuries to Pope, Jordan Pickford or Aaron Ramsdale to be called up to Gareth Southgate’s team.
Ten Hag is not the best emollient of coaches and spoke to Henderson once last season, overseeing his performance for Forest. United goalkeeping coach Richard Hartis was more forthcoming with Henderson.
It was not up to Ten Hag to come to United and do what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer intended to do last year: David de Gea industry for Henderson. The rebranding of the defence, with its Latin core and the rapid demotion of Harry Maguire, worked against Henderson, whose team enthusiasts were largely made up of Anglophiles.
Henderson will curse the Covid-19 war he had two years ago and which has let him down for the better part of two months. He attended the final of the European Championship and as the kick-off approached, he killed time in Boxpark. He missed the entire preseason and the first six games.
However, the tension also showed his brief stint as United’s first-round pick at the end of the 2020-21 campaign. The festival with De Gea became so mental that Hfinisherson found himself on the edge of his area in front of Burnley and the ball ended up in the net, only Chris Wood was slightly offside.
A source said Hfinisherson was so aware that De Gea had a reputation for being rooted in his lineage that he would come out at the slightest opportunity. Piercing Mohamed Salah at the end of the FA Cup scoring in January, Hfinisherson faced him in the same final in the Premier League in May. Hfinisherson stayed within his six-meter perimeter until the dink. All he did was give Salah a wide hole to pass the ball to him.
There have been very good negatives from Tom Lockyer and Leandro Trossard in League Cup wins against Brighton and Luton, confident Premier League debuts at Southampton and four blank sheets in six consecutive starts in March while De Gea was on paternity leave.
He and De Gea also lacked a decisive coach. Solskjaer’s No. 1 ruling was dictated by pregnancy and coronavirus.
With the stadiums again full, Henderson won the defeat in the FA Cup penalty shootout against Middlesbrough when he let Martin Payaro’s unconvincing kick twist beneath him. Henderson conceded six of eight times, undermining the argument that he deserved to have replaced De Gea for last season’s Europa League final.
Ten Hag saw the two legends of last season’s team. De Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo posed alongside Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford in October when the milestones were recognised. Ferguson shook hands with De Gea when he last left as a United player in the ill-fated FA Cup final.
Respectful of Ten Hag’s compliment to De Gea last week. More applicable was his response to the latest query from his post-match press conference at Wembley, which focused on De Gea’s cast: “Let’s put it this way: we’re going in the right direction. But there are opportunities in the game, disorders in the game, we have to improve, definitely, if we need to take the next step and win trophies. “
Undoubtedly, Onana will be United’s rise from behind. Despite the damage from de Gea’s mistakes against City, West Ham and Sevilla, the death knell was his role in Real Betis’ 4-1 defeat in the Europa League in March.
De Gea would not have been touching the water if he had fallen from a boat and a kick caused Betis to cut the amount. “I can’t forget it,” Ten Hag conceded.
He ignored Henderson.