Certain teams that Manchester United have faced this season have been targeting one area of Andre Onana’s game to exploit, as per Telegraph Sport.
The Cameroonian signed from Inter Milan in the summer on a £47.2 million deal and has conceded 18 goals in his first 10 matches, some of which have come from woeful blunders or poor goalkeeping.
Telegraph’s report states that opposition players have been instructed to take early shots at Onana due to the fact that he stays so far back on his goal line, making the net seemingly bigger for forwards to attack.
Analysts have been studying the 27-year-old’s positioning and identified that he often stays deep in his area. He’ll come out to receive a pass or claim the ball but is then quick to retreat inside the six-yard box.
Consequently, this trait has already been taken advantage of numerous times; Mauro Icardi’s 81st-minute winner in Tuesday’s Champions League tie was a chipped finish over Onana, while Wilfried Zaha’s goal was a volleyed strike that bounced straight past the ‘keeper.
“Bayern Munich also scored from close range in the Group A opening defeat for United, and Onana was guilty of an error when he let Leroy Sane’s shot slip through his hands while on his goal-line. Goalkeepers are trained to be off their line so the angles make the goal smaller for the opposition,” adds Mike McGrath.
Ten Hag’s first-choice ‘keeper was Onana
Still, the shot-stopper has the full backing of Erik ten Hag, who personally chose Onana to replace David de Gea after his 12-year stay between the sticks came to an end in July.
Ten Hag and Onana worked together at Ajax, and the Dutchman certainly looks favourably towards signings that he is already well acquainted with. The only issue with such a strategy is that when expectations fail to be met, all eyes turn to the manager.