Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana recorded a not-so-stellar debut campaign with the club last season.
While he improved slightly in the run-in, the start was a near disaster. He was largely blamed for Manchester United’s catastrophic Champions League campaign. According to Opta, Onana committed costly goalkeeping errors that led to goals more than any other goalkeeper in the Champions League since the 2018/19 campaign.
Manchester United became the first club to concede 18 goals in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, crashing out of the competition as the bottom-placed team in Group A.
In the Premier League, Onana was also found wanting. Further classified statistics by Transfermarkt revealed Onana ranked 2nd on the list of goalkeepers with unsuccessful passes and 3rd on the chart of those with unsuccessful passes in their own half.
The most shocking part of Onana’s rickety start to his Man United career came in his first six competitive matches for Manchester United.
After the club opened their Premier League campaign with a narrow 1-0 win over Wolves, Onana’s innumerable blunders led Manchester United to concede an incredible goal count in their five straight matches, with four ending in blistering defeats.
They conceded two goals against Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest. After the Tottenham and Nottingham Forest match, Onana became the first Manchester United goalkeeper to concede a cumulative 10 goals in three successive matches. He conceded three goals against Arsenal and Brighton before taking in four against Bayern Munich in United’s 2023-24 Champions League opener at Allianz Arena.
Towards the end of the 2023-24 season, it was a mixed bag of stellar outings but still marked with his usual goalkeeping blunders. For example, he was crucial in United’s 3-0 win over West Ham United on February 24, in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa in the next match.
However, time and again, his error-prone goalkeeping would cost United game points and diminish the club’s chances in the England Championships.
With preparations for the 2024-25 season gathering momentum, it appears Onana is far from making amends and stepping up his game.
This was shown once again during Manchester United’s 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in pre-season friendly in the USA. Rasmus Hojlund had given United the lead in the game with an early first-half goal but Gabriel Jesus pegged the club back to a 1-1 draw in the 26th minute.
The game nearly ended 1-1 before Arsenal completed the comeback with Martinelli’s sleek delivery in the 81st minute. However, the game went into pre-determined penalties, where Andre Onana raised concerns with his penalty-saving antics.
When Gabriel Magalhaes was about to take his spot-kick, Onana tried to get into the head of the Brazilian instead of focusing on the spot-kick. He pointed to the side that Magalhaes should deliver his spot-kick, leaving a wide gap on that side
At the blast of the whistle, Magalhaes floored him with a perfect effort into the bottom left corner while he dived to his right.
While Magalhaes’ spot-kick was too perfect even for the best of goalkeepers, Andre Onana’s antics before the spot-kick appeared naive and distant from the standards expected of a professional goalie.
Can Andre Onana help Manchester United’s ambitions next season?
Onana’s penalty-saving antics in the Arsenal loss is more likely to spurn up conversation again on his readiness for United’s campaign next season. He, however, saved Kai Havertz’s spot-kick brilliantly but undermined his effort with the bizarre display during Martinelli’s turn.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag faces a huge task of turning a corner away from the club’s dismal campaign last season. Notably, the Dutch has remained unshakable in his confidence in the Cameroonian goalkeeper despite the innumerable blunders in the last campaign.
He will hope to have the Cameroonian shot-stopper justify his confidence in him as the club prepare for next season.
