Erik ten Hag was quick to dismiss any suggestions of ill-feeling towards his goalkeeper following Wednesday night’s affairs.
Manchester United squandered a two-goal lead in Istanbul to eventually draw 3-3 with Galatasaray at Rams Park, taking their Champions League fate entirely out of their hands heading into the final matchday.
Two of the Turkish side’s three goals came courtesy of former Chelsea man Hakim Ziyech – both from free-kicks. The latter of which only found the back of the net due to a howler from Andre Onana and having only been at the club since July, when he signed on a £47.2 million move from Inter Milan, he’s already compiled quite the catalogue of costly in-game mistakes.
Ten Hag retains full confidence in Onana
Alas, Ten Hag has reiterated his backing for his first-choice shot-stopper, and all signs would point to the Cameroonian retaining his place between the sticks for the coming games.
Speaking in Friday’s pre-match press conference, the manager told the media (via Hayters TV): “If you analyse it [Onana’s game] well, then you will see he is the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League based on stats.”
In regards to the aforementioned statistics, the below ones from Squawka may be what Ten Hag is referencing; goals prevented and save percentage.
— Squawka (@Squawka) December 1, 2023
Ten Hag will also be aware of the fact that Onana currently ranks joint-first in the division’s Golden Glove race on five clean sheets, along with Sam Johnstone of Crystal Palace and Nick Pope of Newcastle United – though David de Gea claimed the award at the end of last season and was released, and replaced, just two months later.
Former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher had his say on the matter in his Telegraph Sport column this morning, suggesting that if Onana wasn’t such a big-money signing, he’d have been dropped indefinitely.
“You would not expect an Under 18 keeper to make the basic handling error for Galatasaray’s second goal,” he said.
“If a youth keeper was promoted and played like Onana on Wednesday evening, he would probably never feature for the first team again.”
