Why £43m star will come good for Manchester United after shaky start

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Manchester United’s Andre Onana has received a lot of criticism, some justified and others rather incredibly unjustified.

The Cameroonian joined the club from Inter Milan for an initial £43 million this summer and the move was seen as a revolutionary signing in the goalkeeping department.

As a replacement for David De Gea, Andre Onana was seen to add the ball-playing ability needed as well as the confidence and self-belief to come and claim crosses in the box.

It’s fair to say the goalkeeper hasn’t had an easy start to life in Manchester, but the harsh criticism Onana has received is rather over the top.

Onana’s start

Onana has not had the simplest start. On his Premier League debut he kept a clean sheet but he arguably should have given a penalty away and the Red Devils since conceded 14 goals in all competitions this season, across the following five games.

The goalkeeper certainly has the confidence to deal with these issues and is destined to come good for United.

Onana was a target for criticism from some media before the season began, with predecessor David de Gea well established in United’s goal. Onana’s confident demeanour and willingness to take responsibility will surely wear thin with certain sections of the media, who love to tear players down at times.

At his press conference prior to the Bayern game, Onana was still ridiculously being asked about a pre-season incident with Harry Maguire.

Why Onana will come good

Some goalkeepers would have fallen apart after the mistake he made for the first goal, but Onana is different.

He made a string of fine saves after the mistake and looked just as imperious and confident as he did before the mistake.

For the goalkeeper to publicly front up for his error is certainly a positive and once Onana regains his confidence, he will be back to his best.

Onana’s personality will lift his defence, when normally they would normally be having doubts and feeling nervous about having a shaky goalkeeper behind them. Together the goalkeeper and back four will pick up.

He has been backed by his teammates. Bruno Fernandes told Planet Sport: “Andre is a great goalkeeper. He will keep giving us a lot of points, a lot of saves. He hasn’t to take any blame for nothing.

“We have to take the blame as a team, that we’re going to go through this moment together because we are strong as a team.”

With United taking on Burnley, surely Vincent Kompany’s side will target the former Inter Milan goalkeeper but Onana’s confidence will stand him in good stead and don’t be surprised if the Cameroonian keeps a clean sheet at Turf Moor.