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Andre Onana’s former teammate at Ajax Ryan Babel has accused the Manchester United defenders, especially Harry Maguire, of making the goalkeeper look worse than he actually is.
Onana’s life at Old Trafford started horribly as he made high-profile errors that dearly cost United, especially in the Champions League.
The Cameroonian’s howlers were intensely scrutinised and he became the object of criticism and at times, even ridicule.
However, Onana seems to have now turned a corner and is showing signs of what prompted United to fork out huge money to secure his services from Inter Milan last summer.
During a tumultuous period for the Red Devils in which they’ve struggled to achieve consistency in results and performances, he has come up with some fine saves that have kept the team in games.
He however suffered a setback during United’s 1-1 draw against Burnley when he conceded a late penalty, which Zeki Amdouni scored to deny the 20-time English champions all three points.
Babel – now retired – gave his opinion on Onana’s situation at United and bizarrely blamed Maguire in particular for his troubles.
The former winger, who also played for Liverpool pointed out, “I know the spotlight is on Onana a lot in this United team, but the mistakes we’ve seen are as a result of a combination of things.”
“Onana, at Ajax, had a back four in front of him who were all incredible with the ball at their feet. Respectfully, if Onana is then playing with Harry Maguire, then that immediately puts Onana in trouble, because he’s playing with defenders who aren’t opening themselves up, or making the right runs, so that Onana has options to play, and that puts him in trouble.”
“At Ajax, Onana had the privilege of four great defenders, and Frenkie de Jong in front of them. Onana is a great goalkeeper, but they made him look even better. If a set of players don’t work well together, it makes some of those players in particular look terrible. In this case, that’s what Onana has experienced.”
Babel added, “Absolutely, though, some mistakes have been completely his fault; sometimes you question his positioning, or you just wonder what he’s doing.”
“He’s not been himself in my opinion, but from what I know of him, and what I’ve seen, he’s an incredibly talented goalkeeper, and I hope that more people can see that next season for Manchester United.”
Onana and United return to action next week when they face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
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