Erik ten Hag insists he has full confidence in Andre Onana.
Any calls for Ten Hag to drop Onana seem to ignore the fact that the Cameroonian goalkeeper is someone the manager choose to pay big money to sign. A player he had in the past and one he felt was best to help transition his side after saying goodbye to David de Gea.
Sadly, we’ve only seem glimpses of how Ten Hag wants to play this season, but that should change when key personnel return from injury and we’ve got everyone fit.
That is essentially why Ten Hag believes there would be nothing to gain from taking his under-fire keeper out of the spotlight. Especially when Onana is one of United’s most experienced players.
Onana’s form deserves scrutiny – but he also deserves backing and support from United’s staff, players and we shouldn’t forget the role fans play, too.
He was at fault for two of the three goals scored by Galatasaray on Wednesday night, which explains why these quotes will take the headlines in the lead up to Saturday’s trip to Newcastle.
Ten Hag has strongly defended his £47 million summer signing and pointed to statistics showing that Onana is second in saves made, save percentage and goals prevented in the Premier League this season.
“Players always need trust,” Ten Hag said, as quoted by Yahoo. “After Alisson he is the best stopper in the league from preventing expected goals. You deserve to play.”
Ten Hag was also asked whether Onana needed a break. In other words, drop him… The manager replied: “It won’t help him. I have trust in Tom (Heaton) and Altay, clear. But Andre, you see after Alisson, he prevented the most expected goals in the whole league.
“In the Champions League, he has so much experience with Ajax and last year with Inter Milan. Last year he was with (Manuel) Neuer and (Thibaut) Courtois the best goalkeeper, so he is a great keeper.
“He has the potential, so we have to work on him so that he does it consistently and we will work with him and we will support him. The manager, coaches and players all support him.”
It was also pointed out that none of United’s players went over to Onana at the final whistle as he threw his gloves to the floor. However, Ten Hag believes the dressing is united and fully supportive of Onana.
“That will not happen,” he said. “This dressing room is together. Football is a game of mistakes and everyone can make mistakes. But this team has to cover that so we will operate.
“Nobody is undroppable, that is also clear. We have a strong belief that he will help us win trophies.”
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