Manchester United have to hope that Louis van Gaal was right about something.
He got plenty wrong during his time at Old Trafford, of course.
The Dutchman designed a team in which the full-backs were not allowed to attack. It appeared obligatory to take a touch in the box before shooting, even if the ball was rolling at walking speed.
He also gave Wayne Rooney free rein to choose his position, even when it became obvious that the forward should have been playing at a lower level by that point in his career.
Van Gaal might, however, have had a point over David de Gea.
Next Match
Throughout August 2015, he dropped the Spanish goalkeeper from the starting line-up, giving the middling and unconvincing Sergio Romero the nod instead.
At the time, it seemed a baffling decision. De Gea was at his peak and had been consistently rescuing United since Sir Alex Ferguson’s last season, in 2012-13.
Van Gaal believed that De Gea was not properly able to focus on his game while he was worrying about his future.
It was widely expected that he would join Real Madrid before the end of the summer transfer window, and were it not for an administrative cock-up, he would have done so.
Fans never got to see how the speculation and stress affected De Gea, because they were not given the chance to see him in action for the first month of the season.
Once it became clear that he was stuck at United, though, the Spain international returned to the starting line-up and, happily, performed at his previously high standards.
He continued to do so until Jose Mourinho’s last season in charge. There was talk that he would be signing a new deal even then, but nothing materialised.
The team’s morale fell apart under Mourinho. Performances and results suffered. So, it was hardly surprising that De Gea was reluctant to commit his future to a team that was evidently failing.
Optimism has returned under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but United have had to take a gamble in tying De Gea down to a new deal.
His form during this period of transition has been poor and there is no guarantee that he will get back to his best.
The assumption – or perhaps even hope – has to be that the disquiet over his future was at the root of his unusually shaky displays. One De Gea error has already cost United at least two points against Crystal Palace earlier in the season.
However, there are some grounds for optimism that De Gea will soon get back to his brilliant best.
He should certainly have an easier time of rediscovering his confidence now that the clown show that was Phil Jones and Chris Smalling's centre-half partnership has been broken up – albeit about half a decade too late.
Indeed, now that Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire have arrived, De Gea only has to worry about Luke Shaw and, to an extent, Victor Lindelof ahead of him. United now have a defence worthy of the name.
Let us not forget either that De Gea was once the best goalkeeper in the world. Sudden declines do happen – just look at Breaking Bad. There are no guarantees.
However, at just 28, it would be bizarre if his quality was gone forever. That is certainly what United are banking on.
There's also the fact that finding an adequate replacement would be both difficult and costly.
The Glazers’ parsimonious and incompetent approach to transfers means that Ed Woodward could not be trusted to locate a shot-stopper of superior – or even similar – quality next summer, nor could the owners be relied upon to fund such a transfer.
De Gea, therefore, remains a sensible choice in the face of greater uncertainty.
Indeed, it is not as if United are done gutting their squad. Nemanja Matic is likely to leave in the summer, Juan Mata looked seriously off the pace against Leicester, and it is not yet clear if new players or youngsters will be charged with putting United back on their perch.
In this state of flux, it is almost inevitable that even proven world-class performers such as De Gea will be prone to errors. Nonetheless, it is essential for De Gea that his issues are resolved.
The departure of Alexis Sanchez could help.
United made the Chilean the Premier League's highest-paid player when he arrived from Arsenal in January of last year, compounding De Gea's apparent disillusionment over his own contractual situation. Not unreasonably, the best player at the club wanted parity with the best-paid player.
While the club and De Gea were at loggerheads, United were becoming ever less attractive. Solskjaer’s miserable run at the end of the season would have only strengthened De Gea's suspicion that he would be better off elsewhere, both from a financial and sporting perspective.
Sanchez’s departure for Inter, though, means that De Gea can come to work as the highest-paid player at the club. He wanted that status; now he has it. On the flip side, that means no more excuses, no more slip-ups.
De Gea will be approaching the end of his career when he reaches the end of this contract in 2023, or perhaps 2024. Will he have any more trophies by then? The success of United's rebuilding project will dictate everything.
The fear now, though, is that handing such a lucrative contract to an under-performing De Gea may be one of the causes of its failure, rather than an insurance policy against it.