Barcelona fans are divided after watching Marc-André ter Stegen's terrible mistake in the loss to Celta Vigo. The German has become the villain in the last few days, and some argue he shouldn't be so confident with the ball on his feet anymore.
Well, Ter Stegen has a message for you:
We're human. We make mistakes. Never stop being you! Now back to work with the @DFB_Team ⚽ pic.twitter.com/v53WZVyBDD
— Marc ter Stegen (@mterstegen1) October 6, 2016
And since Sunday's game, a lot of people have spoken in favor of Ter Stegen, including Barça teammates Gerard Piqué, Andrés Iniesta and Denis Suarez, coach Luis Enrique and club legend Carles Puyol. And the latest football person to defend Ter Stegen is none other than his Germany national teammate and the absolute best goalkeeper in the world, Manuel Neuer.
"[I spoke to him and said] 'Marc, calm, keep going like this'. Marc is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and committing errors is part of the maturing process. We know these things happen, Barcelona demands that you play like this."
Source: Diario Sport
Neuer knows a thing or two about playing out from the back, and he has made some weird mistakes as well. But the positives from his distribution outweigh the negatives in a gigantic way, and the same can be said for Ter Stegen, who is working to replace Neuer as Germany's starting keeper in a few years.
It's obvious that Neuer would defend his teammate, but he plays the same style as Ter Stegen and understands how tough that job is, and that mistakes are a part of it. Plus, they help you learn and grow, and he's sure Stegen will be a much better keeper after what happened Sunday.
If the best goalkeeper in the world who also plays with his feet has forgiven Stegen, maybe it's time we do the same.