“No one can be a replacement for another person. That is why farewells are always difficult “
-Matsuri Hino
When it comes to the great goalkeepers of the beautiful game, one of the first clubs to come to mind is Manchester United. Having had the likes of Danish great Peter Schmeichel, Dutch giant Edwin Van der Sar and of course, in recent times David De Gea who had his 12-year tenure at the club come to an end this summer. Historically when a great goalkeeper leaves the club, we saw it took the Reds many years to replace them. Signing many big-name Keepers but they all failed to reach the high standards set by the former greats before them. With the likes of Tim Howard, Fabian Barthez, and Mark Bosnich esc who were all great keepers, but struggled at Old Trafford and failed to impress. All this could be repeating itself right now, due to Man United replacing the great David De Gea, with Cameroonian star, Andre Onana.
David De Gea was a Man United legend. One of the great stories told about the legend was how Sir Alex Ferguson only missed two football matches in his 27 years of managing the club. One match he missed for his son’s wedding and the other to scout a young David De Gea. Of course, Sir Alex’s belief in the young keeper paid off, with the keeper winning, 1 PL title, 1 Europa League, 1 FA cup, 2 EFL cups, 2 PL golden gloves, 5 features in the PFA team of the year, 4 Man Untieds players of the year and setting the record for most saves made in a Premier League match (14). The legend’s tenure at the club came to an end due to the club not offering him a fair contract for his efforts. Especially after a season where he won the Golden Glove. Many fans complained about the star’s ball-playing abilities which in their opinion was vital for the current Gaffer (Erik Ten Hags) system. So, with De Gea’s time at the club coming to an end, the club started searching for new options. The top candidate was Andre Onana, and it came as no surprise. Due to his outstanding ball-playing abilities, his crazy elastic saves, his working experience with the current Man United coach back in his Ajax days, and of course coming off a season where he helped his former side reach the Champions League final, he was the perfect candidate. So, it came with no surprise when Man United came in with a £50m offer for the star. Just like that Andre Onana became the new Man United Goalkeeper. The star came with a lot of excitement to the club and impressed many fans with his brilliant confident answers in his interviews for the club. After a pre-season where the keeper flattered to deceive it came time for his Premier League debut. His debut was close to perfect keeping a clean sheet, but also got himself in some trouble for a crazy last-minute penalty controversy, that was ruled as no penalty by VAR. Unfortunately for Onana, he started looking Shakey since, with some poor goals conceded. Then came the Champions League fixture against Bayern where he made a costly mistake leading to the Red's downfall in the game. Since that mistake, his struggles in the Champions League continued. He made a vital penalty save last minute against Copenhagen to win the game but also made 6 errors leading to goal including other errors that led to red cards and panic at the back. At the moment it seems like those mistakes have caused United's downfall in the Tournament. On the other hand, Onana stepped up his game in the Prem. He currently has the most saves (59) in the league and clean sheets (5). His brilliance in the Prem but appalling performances in the Champions League beg the question: is Onana the man for the job?
In my opinion, he is. But there are many things Andre must improve, and the Gaffer must improve as well. For starters, as I mentioned on my Instagram page (MUTD view) the shot-stopper must learn to punch the ball away from the defenders and opposition. It’s a mistake we’ve seen occur many times this season where he makes a magnificent save only for the ball to go directly back to the opposition making life difficult for himself and his teammates. In addition, he needs to improve his timing when he runs off his line because opposing teams take advantage of his early and late runs off his line. With all this said we must address the most obvious mistake of them all. Andre Onana must improve his composure when facing shots. The vast number of goals that we’ve conceded from clownish Onana saves putting the ball in the back of his net is absurd. Now on to Erik Ten Hag's role in all of this. Many United fans think it’s pathetic that Ten Hag got rid of a legend like David De Gea because of his ball-playing abilities, only to sign Andre Onana who’s brilliant at it, and then see the team not utilizing his abilities. Ten Hag must build a system that utilizes Onana’s ball-playing talent to its fullest.
With all this said, Onana has also shown many signs of hope and brilliance, and the future is still bright for the shot-stopper. As we all know, good things take time, and replacing a keeper with the class and aura of David De Gea is not for the faint-hearted. Onana talks like a man who’s ready for the job and shows often that he’s ready for the job, he simply must improve on the mistakes that many United fans and I have been pointing out.
Sources:
For stats and numbers: Statman Dave and TransferMarkt.
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