There are a few things that seem certain whenever Manchester United experience a bad start to a season.
A rumour of dressing room dissent quickly emerges; a manager is sacked for the failure of his players; a top-four finish suddenly becomes an underwhelming aim. Oh, and David de Gea goes on to win the player of the year award.
This season has ticked all of those boxes so far, and during the 2-0 victory over Brighton on Tuesday night, United were once again reminded of the importance of De Gea, the unsung hero in a season of failure.
United were poor in the opening half against Graham Potter's side and might well have paid the ultimate price if not for another piece of goalkeeping brilliance from the Spaniard shot-stopper.
Instead, they went in level as De Gea guarded his goal with a superb dive high to his right to tip away Jakub Moder's header against the odds.
It is credit to the 31-year-old that such a save is no longer headline news. It is simply just another stop you'd expect De Gea to make, such are his alien levels of attentiveness when it comes to reactionary saves.
"It was great to be honest, a very difficult one," he admitted himself after the match. "In that moment it was a big save because we kept a clean sheet. This is what we want in this moment, keep compact defensively. It was a great save to be honest."
It is rare for a keeper of his pedigree to indulge in such self-praise, but it is thoroughly warranted from De Gea, who was written off by many 12 months ago amid fierce competition from Dean Henderson for the starting spot.
No matter which side of the debate you sit on, there can be no denying the fact that De Gea has regained his world-class status this season and is deserving of his stranglehold on the No.1 jersey right now.
The shutout against Brighton marked the 128th clean sheet he has kept in the Premier League, drawing him level with Peter Schmeichel for the top spot in club history. It also saw De Gea move into the top 10 for all-time clean sheets in the English top-flight, which is even more remarkable when you consider the number of different (and often chaotic) defensive combinations he has played behind.
Yet that stat also highlights just how leaky United's back line has been. In an ideal world, De Gea wouldn't be talked about on a weekly basis, but instead he remains a post-match talking point after most games.
That in turn brings us to the dilemma.
De Gea remains unrivalled in his primary task of keeping the ball out of the net, but the elephant in the room remains his poor distribution and inability to command his area, which restricts United in their build-up play.
The Spaniard does not quite fit the mould in regards to a modern goalkeeper, and if United do want to change their style of play under a new manager this summer, then he might pose somewhat of a problem.
It might seem like a silly argument, but the next manager might well believe a switch in goal could aid United's transition into a possession-based team — even if that means they face a downgrade in terms of pure shot-stopping.
There is a logic that suggests if United controlled games better, partly with a keeper who is a master with the ball at their feet and coming off their line, then there would be fewer efforts to save on goal anyway, reducing the reliance on individual moments of brilliance to keep them in matches.
At the age of 31, everyone is well aware of De Gea's strengths and weaknesses, and right now his skill-set is exactly what is needed to bail out a leaky defence, which gifts glorious opportunities to their opponents far too regularly.
However, if there is a change of approach at the end of the season, then the man affectionately known as 'Spanish Dave' might no longer be the ideal fit for a team that is looking to start the majority of their moves from their own box.
United's next manager already has a dilemma to solve.
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