Andre Onana is the subject of most conversations around Manchester United right now, with Erik ten Hag defending his keeper.
Andre Onana couldn’t continue his solid form this past Wednesday in Istanbul and rather made a calamity of errors in goal, which is a step backwards after how brilliant he was recently in the Golden Glove race.
The errors have left Manchester United‘s Champions League hopes on a knife edge and out of their own hands. United need to beat Bayern Munich and hope that Copenhagen and Galatasaray draw.
Onana is now believed to be concerned over his place in the United team, according to The Telegraph, with AFCON presenting Altay Bayindir an opportunity to unseat the Cameroon international.
Carragher offers critique of Andre Onana
Writing in his column for The Telegraph, Carragher didn’t hold back as he labelled Onana a ‘liability’ and argued if the 27-year-old had been a youth player making his debut, he’d never play again after that display.
“There is no hiding place for an out-of-form goalkeeper.” Carragher began before continuing, “Andre Onana may still have Erik Ten Hag’s public support, but time and patience is not on his side.
“It is not sustainable for Manchester United to have a goalkeeper consistently making so many routine errors. The longer this continues, the more vulnerable he will become.
“Outfield players can ease their way into a new team to find their best form. Some signings can be indulged for a year before they are judged, managers pleading for understanding if they are struggling early on.
“Goalkeepers are too important to be indulged. As the last line of defence, lapses must be occasional rather than a recurring trend.”
Carragher then continued to argue that Onana’s mistakes are far too commonplace to be ignored which could leave Ten Hag with a massive decision to make.
Erik ten Hag defends Andre Onana
Just hours later, Ten Hag was sitting for his press conference before the trip to Newcastle. Here he was, as expected, asked extensively about Onana.
However, he was instead in full defence of his number one goalkeeper ahead of a vital game.
“If you analyse it well then you see he is the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League based on stats, his expected preventing goals is second-best in the Premier League.
“He’s doing well but he knows that in the Champions League he has made some mistakes but all over in the first five months he has done well.”
Ten Hag then continued to reference that Onana often responds to a poor performance with a good one.
“You know also. Because you have seen how he is reacting on a bad performance like in Munich at Burnley he was outstanding. He is a strong character, he is a personality and he will deal with it.”
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