Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand agree on Solskjaer’s De Gea and Henderson verdict

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Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handed David de Gea the gloves for their Europa League final against Villarreal on Wednesday – with Dean Henderson left on the bench.

The veteran Spaniard was dropped for his English counterpart after a tricky start to the campaign, but has recently been called back into action and impressed.

Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand have given their thoughts on the dilemma following the news that De Gea would start in their Gdansk final – and come to an agreement.

The decision would've come as a blow to Henderson having been first-choice earlier in the year, and could hint at Solskjaer's plans ahead of the new season.

Scholes said on BT Sport: “I think it’s the right call to go with the experience.

"I thought De Gea was left out of the team at the right time, I thought it was the time to give Henderson a chance. Has he taken that chance? I’m not sure he has.

"In the first couple of games, he looked nice and safe, nice and controlled, since then he’s looked a little bit shaky to me. David coming back into the team, I think he’s been excellent.

"You think of the Roma game away, he could have easily conceded five or six goals, but he was brilliant on the night. I’m glad he’s playing, he’s still, I don’t know what Ole thinks, but I still think he’s the number one.”

With Ferdinand adding: “I think sometimes, at a point in your career, you need to be given a little shock.

"I think David De Gea fell out of form, and sometimes – no matter who you are – you can be player of the year four times in the last five or six years, so he was sitting pretty, he was almost untouchable.

"But then sometimes, your standard drops, you do need that shock.

"Get out of the team, sit down and watch, and then you regroup again. I think that’s what the situation with him was – and like Scholesy said, Henderson didn’t come in and grab the chance.”

Solskjaer addressed his upcoming dilemma earlier this month, saying: "I think there’s loads of difficult calls to make, the whole squad has contributed so much.

"It’s probably a different scenario with the keepers than it’s normally been because they’ve shared I don’t know how many games, close to 60 and both of them are in and around the 30 mark.

"Both have done really well so it will be a difficult call of course. But I will have to make two or three other difficult calls as well."

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  • Manchester United FC
  • Europa League
  • Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
  • Rio Ferdinand
  • David de Gea

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