Gary Lineker branded David de Gea with a nickname he’ll hope does not stick following his costly error against West Ham, though Erik ten Hag has roared to the defence of the Man Utd goalkeeper.

A hard-fought contest between West Ham and Man Utd was settled by De Gea’s individual error on Sunday. A long-range effort from Said Benrahma should’ve been meat and drink for a stopper of De Gea’s pedigree. However, the Spaniard was found wanting in United’s time of need.

A slight slip with his left foot ensured De Gea wasn’t able to fully propel himself down to his right to make the save. However, De Gea’s outstretched right hand did make contact with the ball, though the ball bobbled over his hand before nestling in the bottom corner.

The 1-0 defeat has amped up the pressure on Man Utd who remain just one point clear of Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s side have won six in a row and the race for top four is very much back on.

In the aftermath of the blunder, prominent pundit Gary Lineker took to Twitter to brand De Gea with a brutal nickname.

Lineker quote tweeted a clip of the mistake, simply writing “David de Howler”.

The error was De Gea’s fourth that’s directly led to a goal across all competitions this season.

That ties him with Tottenham’s fast fading Hugo Lloris as the Premier League-based goalkeepers who’ve committed the most errors this season. All four of Lloris’ blunders have come in the EPL.

Ten Hag won’t give up on De Gea

De Gea is in the midst of contract negotiations with Man Utd. His current deal expires at season’s end and there is a club option for an extra 12 months.

However, United opted against activating the option in the hopes of forging a new, multi-year deal before he hits free agency.

The Manchester Evening News claimed United are ‘confident’ of wrapping up a deal in short course. However, De Gea will be expected to absorb a huge pay-cut form his current £375,000-a-week salary.

Any United fans hoping the club might pull the plug on De Gea after another mistake look set for disappointment.

In quotes carried by The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell, Ten Hag confirmed he hopes De Gea will stay and a new contract is still on the agenda.

“We want him to stay and we want him to extend his contract,” said Ten Hag.

TEAMtalk previously revealed Ten Hag had strong-armed the United board into accelerating their talks with De Gea.

For the time being at least, De Gea has the full support of his manager.

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