Ten Hag has to stick by new signing, figures show he’s being let down

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His face said it all. Andre Onana had just given away another Manchester United goal as Mathias Jensen wheeled away in celebration for Brentford.

Andre Onana looked up to the heavens, shook his head and then tried his best to shake off his latest error.

The Manchester United goalkeeper, who joined the club for £43 million from Inter Milan, has struggled massively and seems bereft of confidence since his mistake against Bayern Munich.

Onana let Leroy Sane’s shot wriggle through his fingers and from then on, the 27-year-old has looked rather shaky. What followed were more mistakes against Galatasaray and now Brentford.

However, despite the mistakes, Onana may well not be the only one who deserves criticism.

Onana’s surprising statistics

The former Ajax goalkeeper, according to FBREF, has faced 38 shots in the Premier League so far this season.

This, surprisingly, ranks him as the eighth highest for shots faced. Manchester City and Arsenal, for comparison, have faced just 16 shots apiece.

Despite the mistakes Onana has made, there will always be more emphasis on the goalkeeper if he has to face, on average, nearly five shots a game.

Looking at his last season at Inter Milan, as an example, the goalkeeper faced just 83 shots. The fact that he has faced nearly half of that amount after eight games is certainly a concern.

A makeshift defence, as well as a porous midfield, means that United are easily exposed to conceding silly shots throughout and naturally Onana’s game will be under the microscope, the more shots he faces.

United’s defensive solution

The solution to the supposed ‘problem’ is a simple one and is one that could potentially help the rest of the team improve, too.

A defence with Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan Bissaka, Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane missing, is one that is bound to concede shots on target.

The problem, however, is that Onana is a man out of form and the more shots he faces, whilst being out of form, means that he will be under more and more pressure.

The solution is a simple one. No, Ten Hag should not drop the 27-year-old. Despite his poor form, he still adds so much to United’s game in possession.

What really should be the solution to this problem is the midfield and defence need to not allow shots, particularly from cutbacks, with such regularity.

The return of key defenders, and indeed midfielders, should hopefully allow the goalkeeper to build up his confidence and improve game by game.