Manchester United: Tomasz Kuszczak Leaves United as an Unsung Hero

With all the excitement of the European Championships and Summer transfer rumours occupying the attention of most of the footballing world, it has slipped under the radar somewhat that goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak has been released from his Manchester United contract for free.

Having spent almost his entire time at United in the shadow of the legendary Edwin van der Sar, the former Polish number one was never going to be a headline-grabber.

Still, Tomasz's contributions to United over the years are comparable to almost no other reserve goalkeeper in the history of the Premier League.

Having arrived on loan from West Bromwich Albion in 2006 (a deal that was later made permanent in the summer of 2007), the future looked very bright for Kuszczak.

And indeed it was, as in his half-decade with the Red Devils, Tomasz accumulated a grand total of six titles: three Premier League, two League Cup and one Champions League.

Sadly though, with the introduction of both David De Gea and Anders Lindegaard, as well as the promising young Ben Amos, it was also inevitable that Kuszczak would eventually lose all chance of ever making it to the United first team again.

Its remarkable that a man of his abilities was never able to actually play as a first-choice goalie for a Premier League club.

Many would argue that if Tomasz had been playing for any side other than United, Chelsea or Liverpool over the past six years, then he would have been able to play regular first-team football.

There were several occasions in his spell at Old Trafford where Van der Sar, who was often troubled with facial injuries, would be forced to take time away from the sport — sometimes for up to a few months.

Almost always this void would be filled by Kuzszcak, and when it was no one could have ever singled him out as out of place in a United shirt.

Its easy to forget, but over the years Tomasz played in some crucial games that would eventually lead to both Premier League and Champions League titles coming back to Manchester.

Not only this, but as any United fan can tell you, Kuszczak almost never complained about a lack of game time.

That kind of attitude is exactly what you want from any of your squad players — especially your reserve goalkeeper.

Of course, there have been countless squad players that have perhaps not been given the credit and due respect that they deserved over the 20-year course of the Premier League.

But this particular player was just somebody who I really felt needed to be flagged up for his contributions not just to United, but to the league in general.

Kuszczak showed young goalies everywhere that you didn't have to be a "big name" to be respected amongst your peers.

Good luck to Tomasz in all his future endeavours from all United and footballing fans alike.