After David de Gea received the Golden Glove award for the goalkeeper with the most Premier League clean sheets, Erik ten Hag hailed Manchester United's whole defense.
De Gea now leads Liverpool's Alisson Becker in shutouts with 17, and United's 1-0 victory at Bournemouth helped the squad get to within one point of the Champions League playoff spot.
De Gea has made mistakes throughout the season, most recently allowing West Ham to score in a 1-0 loss at the London Stadium and when the squad lost to Sevilla in the Europa League.
However, he demonstrated against Bournemouth that his shot-stopping skills and reflexes are still unimpaired by making three superb saves from Dominic Solanke.
Although he emphasized that it had been a team effort, Ten Hag acknowledged that De Gea had played a significant role in the team's defensive record, which is the third best in the league.
He also singled out United's central defenders Victor Lindelof and Raphael Varane for contributing to their back-to-back shutouts, which have all but guaranteed them a spot in the top four.
"A clean sheet is always very important to be successful in a season," stated Ten Hag.
"I believe it reveals something about our plan, our organizational structure, and the team's commitment. The confidence they had in their strategy and how they carried it out.Of course, we have a few standout defensive and pressing players.
Center-halves are crucial if you're talking about clean sheets for the entire team.
"I believe they played with tremendous focus and defense, but I believe Victor and Rafa have been performing admirably in positioning and dueling over the course of many games in April and May. Very good.
Christian Eriksen's excellent cross was deflected off defender Marcos Senesi in the ninth minute, setting up Casemiro's superbly improvised goal that gave United the victory.
Even if the visitors weren't at their best during the triumph at the Vitality Stadium, Ten Hag stated he was delighted with his team's effort with the ball in Bournemouth's half, especially in the first 25 minutes.
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