Former United coach Steele slams De Gea for being 'lazy' and eating 'too many tacos'

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea ate too many tacos and slept several times a day when he joined the club, according to former coach Eric Steele.

The Spaniard struggled to adapt to life in England after his £18million from Atletico Madrid in 2011, especially the physical side of football.

'His first six months were horrendous,' said Steele to the Observer. 'One issue with him was that he was just 71 kilos. We changed his lifestyle.'

Wrong attitude: Former Manchester United coach Eric Steele says David de Gea was too lazy when he joined

De Gea has since solidified his No 1 spot for United and is the man David Moyes trusts with the gloves between the sticks.

However, former goalkeeping coach Steele was unimpressed with the 22-year-old's attitude when he first arrived.

'He would finish training and want to go home. When I told him to come back in the afternoon he’d ask: ''Why?''

Defeat: De Gea let in two at Old Trafford one Saturday when United lost to West Brom

'He’d sleep two or three times a day. He’d have his main meal late at night. He’d eat too many tacos. We had him in the gym a lot. He hated it. They don’t do the gym in Spain as much.

Steele even had to begin learning Spanish to get through to De Gea who made little effort learning the language of his new home.

'We needed to be able to communicate with each other straight away, even if it was just the basic terms. David is lazy in his desire to learn English. So I learned. I kept telling him to work on his English.'

Distraught: The United players were booed off after the whistle