Andre Onana ‘better than De Gea’ says ex-goalkeeper, who says one thing is holding him back

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Former Premier League goalkeeper David James believes there may be another reason behind Andre Onana’s struggles at Manchester United.

Andre Onana has had a mixed start at Manchester United this season with a few ropey performances for the Red Devils costing his side a place in the Champions League knockout stages.

The Cameroon international made a string of high-profile errors, particularly against Galatasaray in Istanbul as the Red Devils slumped to just one victory out of six games in Europe’s elite competition.

Onana in the Premier League, however, has been a different story with the goalkeeper conceding 21 goals in the league but his FBREF statistics suggest he should have conceded 24 goals with the shots that he has faced this campaign.

James on Onana

One former Premier League goalkeeper has given his verdict on Onana’s struggles in Europe and has questioned one aspect, in particular.

“With Onana, you have a keeper who is capable of distributing a ball as good and maybe even better than anyone in the Premier League, left foot and right foot,” David James, who was capped 53 times at international level by England, told Football365.

“The guy is seriously competent in that department of his game, but he is playing in a side struggling to make best use of his skills.

“I still believe Onana is a better keeper than David De Gea in an all-round sense. De Gea was a fantastic shot stopper and had great reflexes, but he couldn’t get a team moving quickly with his distribution and that is so important in the modern game.

“One question I would ask is what is the Manchester United goalkeeper coach doing with Onana every day? Is he working with him in the right areas or is he too weak to take the session to where the keeper needs to be?

“In time, I believe Onana will prove his value to Manchester United and Ten Hag will benefit from that if he stays there for long enough, but there have be doubts over his future.

Onana’s form

As mentioned, the Cameroon international has been in good form in the Premier League but there are certain aspects of his game that he could improve.

His cross-claiming can be suspect at times, but his distribution has been very good which has allowed United to escape from certain pressing traps with the 27-year-old in goal.

No matter what, Onana has been a big upgrade on David De Gea who remains without a club following his release in the summer.

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