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Andre Onana bore the brunt of numerous snide remarks and mockery from opposition fans after his shaky start to life at Old Trafford.
However, the keeper has turned it around as of late, and has quietly become one of the Red Devils most solid contributors in 2024.
The Athletic have carried out an in-depth analysis of the Cameroonian’s time at the club to date and pinpointed the reasons behind the keeper’s change in fortunes.
The former Ajax keeper was delighted when Erik ten Hag made his intentions clear that he wanted to bring him to Old Trafford, as he sees United as one of the three biggest clubs in the world and “he felt the United train might only pass him once in his life”.
Unfortunately, things could hardly have started worse for him as his new side picked up injury after injury and produced one of the club’s most rancid Champions League campaigns, in which they conceded 15 goals and only picked up a paltry four points in six group games, finishing dead last.
The lowest point of all was a November night in Istanbul, where Onana let two seemingly gentle Galatasaray free kicks slip through into goal and consequently, United dropped two valuable points that effectively ended their Champions League campaign.
The usually bullish goalkeeper was down and told people close to him: “I don’t know what is happening to me with these mistakes. I always have confidence in myself but now I’m losing it”.
The Athletic even report that one United youngster in training, who had barely played a first team game, was so irate with the keeper’s performance that he questioned, “are you going to save one or what?”.
Nonetheless, since the turn of the year, Onana has been incredibly solid for the Mancunian side. The American outlet states, “game after game, he is producing top saves and as the doubters become admirers, his manager is feeling more vindicated”.
Interestingly, the African keeper was actually performing well from a statistical point of view even during his initial struggles.
“Onana’s first season in England is a strange example of perception versus performance. Statistically, he is one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League and has been for the majority of the campaign”.
Using a metric called expected goals on target (xGOT), it is possible to calculate how many goals a keeper has prevented.
“In the first part of the season up to the end of 2023, Onana had the fourth-largest difference between his goals conceded (excluding own goals) and his xGOT. This demonstrates that, while he might have looked shaky in his early months, compared to a league-average goalkeeper, he prevented United from conceding at least an extra three goals”.
Ironically, despite being much more stable, he is performing much closer to the league average since the turn of the year.
Onana has also faced more crosses than any other keeper in the division and he had a remarkable eight successful high claims versus Manchester City last weekend. For context, David de Gea claimed 14 in total last season.
Former Manchester United goalkeeping coach, Eric Steele has defended Onana’s settling in period and claimed that legendary keepers, De Gea and Peter Schmeichel also needed time to bed into the role of United’s number one.
Pundit Gary Neville has previously labelled being number one at Old Trafford as the “hardest position in English football”.
Elaborating on the Cameroon international’s progress Steele stated, “a difficult first few months, but you have to understand why. Onana came from Italy where the pace and tempo are different.
“There’s no league in the world where you have the variation in games that you get in the Premier League and it catches new goalkeepers out. You play against a possession team one week — Liverpool, Brighton, Villa or Manchester City — and then you have counter-attacking teams and sides mixing it up far more than you see in Serie A. You’re playing with fans right on top of you in full stadiums that hold 74,000 or 11,000”.
The former United employee has praised the keeper’s response to adversity and stated, “he’s made some top saves. And there have been a few occasions where you are watching thinking, ‘Wow, goal’. Then you see this big hand come out”.
“He’s now moving his feet quicker, he’s better balanced”. The Peoples Person relayed back in December that his unusual parrying technique was causing havoc in the United defence and he appeared nervous when facing long shots, choosing to stop the ball with the lower part of his hand or wrist.
His footwork was also critiqued and his one-on-one ability for Mauro Icardi’s goal at Old Trafford highlighted as such an example when the forward nonchalantly chipped the stranded keeper to give the Turks the victory.
Thankfully, the keeper has seemingly turned a corner in this regard.
Onana has also not had the passing influence many thought he would have. Described as a “playmaker in gloves” during Inter’s run to the Champions League final, he has often been seen lumping the ball forward for United.
However, Ten Hag’s plan had to change quickly with Lisandro Martinez, by far United’s most press-resistant defender, spending the majority of the season out injured. It stands to reason that with the Argentine back to full fitness and one or two new defensive signings that are better on the ball, Onana will begin to really shine in this metric.
The turnaround in the 27 year old’s form is one of the few bright spots in a dull season for United fans. If he continues to put in solid performances and continues to show why he was ranked 23rd on the Ballon d’Or list this year, it will be a massive problem solved for new owners INEOS.
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