Van der Sar: Hoek can improve De Gea

Frans Hoek’s arrival at Manchester United can only make David de Gea a better goalkeeper, according to Edwin van der Sar.

Hoek has followed new manager Louis van Gaal to Old Trafford, replacing Chris Woods as goalkeeping coach at the Premier League club.

Though, the 57-year-old will not arrive in Manchester alongside Van Gaal until the conclusion of the Netherlands’ FIFA World Cup campaign in Brazil.

De Gea formed a good relationship with Woods as he was crowned United’s Player of the Season, before the coach was relieved of his duties at the end of a dismal campaign.

But former United goalkeeper Van der Sar has first-hand experience with Hoek, who was his first goalkeeping coach at Dutch powerhouses Ajax during the 1990s, and the 43-year-old believes De Gea can become one of the best in the world under Hoek’s guidance.

“He groomed me and helped me learn all the things I needed to know to be a successful footballer over a lot of years,” Van der Sar said of Hoek, who also worked alongside Van Gaal at Bayern Munich.

“He should be a great help for David. He used to work at Barcelona so he’ll speak Spanish, although I know David speaks good English now. I think they’ll be a good combination.”

Van der Sar added: “Like Louis van Gaal, he’s really exact with his exercises. They both put a lot of thought into them.

“He was one of the first guys I know who connected the goalkeepers with defenders and midfielders in terms of exercises.

“It wasn’t only about practising kicks as a keeper, he would think about different situations you might be in during a game and try to find exercises and drills for us that he would combine with the outfield players.”