Ruben Amorim has plenty of problems to solve and Manchester United’s goalkeeping situation is another growing issue for the Old Trafford outfit.
Manchester United needed three goals in six extra time minutes to get past Lyon and into the semi-finals of the Europa League. However, such a late and dramatic comeback wouldn’t have been required had André Onana not many two blunders in the first leg. The Cameroonian goalkeeper very nearly cost his team their one shot at a trophy this season.
Of course, Onana has long been error prone. His mistakes directly led to Manchester United’s early exit from last season’s Champions League group stage. He was at fault for a Matheus Cunha Olimpico earlier this season. And a Georginio Rutter goal for Brighton in January. A list of Onana’s errors as a United player would be a long one.
This led Ruben Amorim to drop Onana for the Premier League match away to Newcastle United just days after the Cameroonian’s disaster-class against Lyon. Presented with the chance to stake a claim, though, Altay Bayındır produced a blunder-ridden performance of his own, playing a pass directly to the Magpies for their fourth goal.
Onana was back in goal for the home defeat to Wolves on Sunday when he looked edgy once again even if he didn’t directly contribute to the loss. With two season-defining Europa League semi-final matches against Athletic Club coming up, United are in the midst of a goalkeeping crisis, but it’s a goalkeeping crisis of their own making.
Manchester United signed Onana to help change their identity as a team. David de Gea was moved out of the club largely because of his inability on the ball. Erik ten Hag wanted United to be better at constructing possession moves from the back and Onana was one of the ball-playing goalkeepers in the game at the time.
As Inter Milan’s number one, Onana proved this during the Nerazzurri’s run to the Champions League final in the 2022/23 season. The Cameroonian was a big reason why Manchester City struggled in the final with Onana extremely effective at bypassing the press with sharp passes into the centre of the pitch.
There were better shot-stoppers United could have signed, but Onana was meant to signify a broader change. This change, of course, never happened. Ten Hag quickly abandoned his plan to turn Manchester United into a possession-orientated team and instead focused on playing in quick transition.
In two seasons as a United player, Onana has never had a midfielder ahead of him capable of taking a pass on the turn and moving forward in one movement. At Inter, he had Nicolo Barella to do this. At Manchester United, Onana has had a heavy-legged Casemiro at the base of the midfield to play in to.
It’s not even as if Onana has had press-resistant full backs to direct passes towards. Luke Shaw has missed the majority of the last two seasons through injury while Diogo Dalot isn’t always the most reliable when it comes to his first touch. Manchester United signed a goalkeeper to play out from the back, but didn’t give him any teammates to help.
“We are going to make that evaluation for any position in the squad,” said Amorim when asked about Onana’s future at Old Trafford. “You can see my record [too] – my record is the worst in the team. I am also underperforming. We need to improve. We cannot change all the players. We need to improve every position on the field. Goalkeeper is the same; we can work with André. André Onana already proved he is a top player with Inter. Altay the same with Fenerbahçe.”
Onana’s tale is a familiar one for Manchester United. They signed Rasmus Højlund to be a physical frontman, but had no plan to provide him with service. Joshua Zirkzee was signed without a clear role for him in the team. United chased Jadon Sancho for years without a firm grasp of his skill set as a winger.
It might be the case that Manchester United sign a new goalkeeper this summer. James Trafford has been mentioned as an option. Lille’s Lucas Chevalier is another name that has recently appeared in the gossip column in relation to the Old Trafford club. Onana and Bayındır’s recent displays might have made up Amorim’s mind.
However, Onana isn’t necessarily a bad goalkeeper because of the way his United career has gone just as Scott McTominay, Antony, Anthony Elanga and the likes weren’t bad players when they were at Old Trafford. They just weren’t in the right situation just as Onana has ended up in the wrong circumstances.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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