Ryan Giggs has jumped to David de Gea's defence and claimed that his decline is not as sharp as people are making out.
The Manchester United goalkeeper has made several high profile errors over the past 12 months.
The most recent of which came against Tottenham which saw Roy Keane label the Spaniard as "the most overrated goalkeeper I've seen for a long time".
But Giggs, who was team-mates with De Gea in the twilight of his career, maintains he is still a "top goalkeeper" who has paid the price for United's unsettled defence.
"I don’t see David’s decline as big as what people have been making out," the Welshman told Premier League Productions.
"I think he’s still a top goalkeeper. I think the introduction of Alisson and Ederson as well as the form of Man City and Liverpool hasn’t helped him but he’s a top goalkeeper.
"I’ve played with him and I’ve coached him, he’s a brilliant goalkeeper but he has made a few more mistakes than he has done in the previous five or six years.
"I think he’s had a very unsettled defence in front of him and that hasn’t helped him; that wouldn’t help any goalkeeper no matter how good you are.
"He’s a top, top goalkeeper. When you start messing about in the goalkeeper position as we found out when Peter [Schmeichel] left it can be tricky. I don’t think he’s at a stage where you need to think about changing him."
De Gea's position as United's No 1 has come under further scrutiny because of the form of loanee Dean Henderson.
The 23-year-old has impressed at Sheffield United and registered more clean sheets than the Spaniard this term.
