Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana is not having the best of times at Old Trafford at the moment, with his poor form continuing despite the win over Brentford this weekend.
The Cameroon international joined Man Utd from Inter Milan in the summer and hasn’t settled in yet at all, looking a shadow of the player who shone at the San Siro and who performed so well against Manchester City in the Champions League final last season.
It’s not clear quite what’s gone wrong for Onana, but he was singled out for criticism by pundit Garth Crooks in his BBC Sport column this week as he discussed the Red Devils’ victory over Brentford.
Although Scott McTominay came off the bench to net a dramatic stoppage time brace to turn the game around, Onana’s error earlier in the game had given Brentford the lead.
Crooks is concerned that Onana is making life very difficult for everyone else at United as he’s nowhere near the calibre of some of the club’s other great ‘keepers of the past.
“Two goals scored and one disallowed by Scott McTominay turned what was rapidly turning into a nightmare for manager Erik ten Hag into something of a massive relief,” Crooks said.
“It’s hard enough trying to win matches when your goalkeeper is in good form, but when he’s making errors almost on a weekly basis it makes life very difficult for all concerned.
“Especially when you’ve had Peter Schmeichel, Edwin van der Sar and David de Gea keeping goal for you during the past 20 years, it becomes very conspicuous when you have a goalkeeper who is not in their class.
“In fact, Andre Onana is not even on their planet. Since the arrival of the Manchester United keeper, he’s been either smashing into centre-forwards, letting the ball slip through his fingers or, as was the case against Brentford, beaten by a shot a schoolboy would have been expected to save.”