Martin Dubravka has struggled for minutes since leaving Newcastle United for Manchester United, and the goalkeeper had a night to forget vs Cadiz on Wednesday.
The Red Devils played their first mid-season friendly as they prepare for the Premier League return, taking on La Liga side Cadiz over in Spain.
Erik ten Hag didn’t name the strongest side, with a lot of his star players competing at the World Cup in Qatar. But his starting XI did include the likes of Anthony Martial, Donny van de Beek and Aaron Wan Bissaka. And it also included Dubravka.
The Newcastle loanee started in goal, despite the fact that David De Gea was not part of Spain’s World Cup squad.
The former Toon stopper got the chance to show what he was capable of, but the evening did not go to plan for the 33-year-old.
Dubravka concedes four vs Cadiz
Within 14 minutes, Dubravka had already picked the ball out of his net twice. There was nothing he could do for either goal, with Cadiz taking advantage of a sluggish Manchester United.
By the end of the night, it was Cadiz 4 Manchester United 2. The Red Devils side was unrecognisable by the final whistle, with a raft of youngsters coming on.
But Dubravka played the full game, and it was certainly one to forget. It would be difficult to blame him for any of the goals, but it was far from a confident performance from the Slovakian.
In their player ratings, the Manchester Evening News gave him a 5/10, which is the same mark he received from 90min. They stated that Dubravka was ‘nervy in spells’ against Cadiz.
Fan site United In Focus were also critical, giving him a 4/10 and describing him as ‘shaky in the air’.
Overall, it was a poor night for Dubravka, who will feel he squandered a good chance to show Ten Hag what he was capable.
The Man United boss was particularly scathing of his side after the game, slamming them for the opening 15 minutes.
“Quite clear, we were not awake,” Ten Hag told MUTV.
“Still sleeping. First 15 minutes. And we prepared – they are a threat in transition, we see the second goal, it can’t happen, you are not awake. Bad defence but especially in the midfield we got run off, it’s not possible, unacceptable.”
While Dubravka was not to blame, he was part of an ‘unacceptable’ performance. His loan spell at Old Trafford isn’t going brilliantly, and it looks set to continue with a report stating that he is not expected to return to Newcastle in January.
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