Pranav Kannan
Garth Crooks says Andre Onana is making life difficult for his Manchester United teammates
When Manchester United made the decision not to renew the contract of club legend David de Gea in the summer and sign Andre Onana instead, everyone assumed they were taking a step forward in the right direction. Despite the fact that he won the Golden Glove last season, the Spaniard seemed past his best.
Last season, Erik ten Hag made Manchester United play good football for most parts. One aspect where they struggled though was playing out from the back. For all his plaudits, the Spanish shot-stopper has never been the best with his feet.
This forced the Dutch manager to change his preferred style and made the team go long from the back to mask his goalie’s shortcomings. By the end of the season, he had had enough and chose to go with someone he knew from before.
Enter Andre Onana. The former Inter Milan goalkeeper was signed to huge hype and rightfully so. The La Masia graduate has a reputation for being one of the best with the ball at his feet and his heroics for the Italian side in the Champions League last season caught the eye.
The prospect of Erik ten Hag reuniting with a player he had coached for many years at Ajax and had great memories with was mouth-watering for the United fans. They expected the Cameroon international to come in and settle like a charm.
Reality though, hits very differently and Manchester United are learning that the hard way. Onana has been a pale shadow of his former imperious self and has already made so many high-profile errors that have led to United conceding goals.
Garth Crooks, on BBC, absolutely did not mince his words when talking about the shot-stopper and he wasn’t off the mark
“It’s hard enough trying to win matches when your goalkeeper is in good form, but when he’s making errors almost on a weekly basis it makes life very difficult for all concerned. Especially when you’ve had Peter Schmeichel, Edwin van der Sar and David de Gea keeping goal for you during the past 20 years, it becomes very conspicuous when you have a goalkeeper who is not in their class. In fact, Andre Onana is not even on their planet. Since the arrival of the Manchester United keeper, he’s been either smashing into centre-forwards, letting the ball slip through his fingers or, as was the case against Brentford, beaten by a shot a schoolboy would have been expected to save.”
Whilst things might not have gone well for Onana until now, a player of his potential must be given time to settle in. The daggers pointed at his back will not be helping his cause as well as he looks to regain confidence.
More Manchester United News-
- Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel thinks the team has lost their trust in goalkeeper Andre Onana
- Manchester United are expected to renew the contract of Victor Lindelof
- Manchester United to battle Bayern for Palmeiras wonderkid Luis Guilherme
A confident and commanding Onana would instantly make Man United much better. It can’t come sooner for the club though considering they are struggling in the Premier League and the Champions League. It’ll be a huge surprise if the Cameroonian doesn’t get better at Old Trafford. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take long.
