The season has not gone according to plan for Manchester United, far from it, in fact, and Erik ten Hag’s job already seems to have become a game-to-game decision.
In a major departure from the usual, however, the players are not getting as much criticism as they usually do in such a situation.
That is because the fans can see the effort and backing they have retained for the manager and there are no stories of dressing room discontent.
For once, the Man Utd squad doesn’t seem like the biggest problem at the club, and understandably so, since Erik ten Hag has overseen pretty much a full overhaul of personnel.
One player has actually been so good that Fabrizio Romano says the Man Utd coaching staff are ‘very happy’ with his development.
Man Utd staff ‘very happy’ with one player
Results have deteriorated rapidly this season but just three games ago, the mood was extremely different.
United were coming off back-to-back draws, yes, but the performance in both left the fans with optimism that something is building.
That dissipated with the battering at home vs Tottenham and then the team put forward two performances in draws vs Porto and Villa that can be best described as “confusingly competent”.
Amidst all the wreckage, one player has been a constant, emerging with credit in nearly every game played this season.
That has been noticed by the coaching staff too, as Fabrizio Romano reports that the staff is very happy with Andre Onana’s development.
He said: “In negative start of the season, André Onana has been one of the best players for Manchester United as he’s completed most clean sheets in Premier League with 4 so far.
“Man Utd coaching staff, very happy with his development on second season since joining from Inter.”
Andre Onana coming into his own
When a goalkeeper’s career starts off by getting lobbed from the opponent’s half on his debut in pre-season they can be forgiven for being a bit tetchy afterwards.
That is the situation Onana found himself in and true to form, his debut season started off amidst a chorus of doubt and frustration as he made constant errors.
However, in those errors, he showed glimpses of the form that made him the most coveted goalkeeper in the world when he was at Inter Milan.
Those glimpses have become the norm this season as not only has he started showing off his skills with the ball, his shot-stopping has been much better than advertised.
It is a stark difference to see the opponent not even bothering to press when Onana has the ball as compared to what used to happen with De Gea.
In goal, he has saved United more humiliations almost single-handedly and won points for them with his saves as well.
In a season where pretty much everything is under the scanner at Old Trafford, it must fill Ineos with confidence that at least the man between the sticks is sorted.
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