Ben Foster says Man Utd ace who tried to be ‘clever’ initially is ‘world-class’ now

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Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United managerial debut didn’t go according to plan but there were still plenty of things to be positive about.

Amad played wonderfully in an unfamiliar position, Andre Onana saved Manchester United on more than one occasion, Noussair Mazraoui became Ruben Amorim’s ideal player and much more.

As injury worries subside and Amorim gets more time on the training pitch with the Man Utd squad, the chinks in the armour will get ironed out.

In the meantime, he will take any positives he can get, things about which he can forget, knowing that will be taken care of automatically.

Ben Foster has just told Amorim about one such player in his squad who has had a remarkable transformation since arriving at Old Trafford.

Ben Foster on Andre Onana’s transformation

Getting chipped from behind the halfway line on your goalkeeping debut is not the ideal way to start your career at a club, to put it kindly.

That’s what Andre Onana had to go through and add to that the need to step out of David de Gea’s decade-long shadow, the Cameroonian had quite a job on his hands.

He was expected to transform United’s style of play after being so proactive as a sweeper keeper with Ajax but the initial reality turned out to be quite different.

Ben Foster said on his YouTube channel it is down to him trying to be a “clever bugger”, taking extreme risks thinking he could get away with it since he came from a dominant Ajax, then Inter Milan team.

Foster said: “I think when we first saw him, when he first came over, he was trying to play this Ajax way of standing over at the halfway line and being a bit of a clever bugger really.

“It’s not really Man Utd style and it doesn’t work in the Premier League unless you’re a massively dominant team.”

However, with time, not only did Onana’s shot-stopping game come on leaps and bounds, but his ball-playing ability has also started showing.

Foster gave credit where it was due after the Ipswich game, where Onana made massive saves to keep United in the game.

He said: “Fair play to him. I think this season he has stepped up massively. I think he has just settled into a nice little position now, a routine, and he’s making massive saves.

“That save from [Liam] Delap, that was a goal. That’s a world-class goalkeeper there.”

Andre Onana solves Ruben Amorim’s big headache

Between trying to tackle injuries, installing a new system, games every three days, and the spotlight that comes with being Man Utd manager, Ruben Amorim has a lot on his plate.

Amorim already said he’s tackling one of those problems and at United, a new one crops up every day.

In such a time of upheaval and turmoil, Onana’s form saves him a big headache because the goalkeeper has genuinely become a player he can put in the team and forget about it.

At least a 7/10 performance from him is guaranteed and he has completely quietened the noise around him while turning doubters into believers, a la Ben Foster himself.

The winds of change are blowing at Carrington, on and off the pitch. Amidst that change, Onana stands tall as the one constant and Amorim will be thankful for it.