David De Gea’s replacement, Andre Onana made a strong start in the Premier League when he made six saves against Wolves on his debut on 14th August.
He was also named ‘Man of the Match’ in that 1-0 win United recorded at the Old Trafford.
However, that performance on the cold Monday night has been quickly forgotten by United fans.
Since then, United have won only one match in five games in all competitions while shipping in 14 goals. That’s a lot.
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The Red Devils have been mostly disappointing and have failed to match up to their opponents appropriately. Few glimpses of attacking prowess have been displayed but defensively, Erik Ten Hag’s men are weak.
Former manager Alex Ferguson once said: “Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.” However, a close look at this United team suggests they are even struggling to win games.
United needs to improve on general level of play
In five league matches this campaign, Manchester United have found the back of the net six times. They’ve conceded ten goals in the same number of games.
Obviously, their opponents always found a way to outscore them no matter the number of goals they score. This has been shown especially in the Champions League game against Bayern Munich.
United managed three goals but conceded four. They lost their last two league games by 3-1 scorelines – against Arsenal and Brighton respectively.
Ten Hag’s team have outscored their opponents twice so far – against Wolves (1-0) and Nottingham Forest (3-2).
In fact, they had to show tenacity and resilience to come from two goals down before beating Forest.
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Onana takes responsibility
During pre-season, United fans were afforded the chance to see what to expect from their new goalie. Truth is, a lot of fans were skeptical about how well Onana was going to fair with his new club.
He is seen as that goalkeeper who ‘plays too much’ and have minds unsettled when he has the ball.
Additionally, the Cameroonian has demonstrated a great ball playing ability and his passing is one that must be commended.
His latest error cost United the first goal against Bayern on Wednesday night. He failed to deal with a Leroy Sane shot and that set the tone for the 4-3 loss.
Following the match in Germany, Onana said: ‘It’s my responsibility because the team didn’t win, and I have to learn from itā¦it was me who let the team down.’
During pre-season, as he’s usually known for, Onana was way out of the penalty area, and conceded a long-range goal against Lens. Before moving to England, He was known to be a keeper who loves pushing out of the area. He loves being involved in the kind of play outfield players are used to.
Reports have it that his style of play was one reason why he was axed from the national sometime ago. He’s been recalled though.
There’s a bigger problem than Onana
If checked critically, Onana hasn’t been the cause of over 70% of the goals conceded by United. I pointed this out because the public has made it look like every goal was Onana’s problem.
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Yes, Onana has had a poor start to the campaign obviously because goalkeepers are first judged based on goals conceded. However, the defenders in front of him haven’t exactly helped matters. They’ve been on and off but exhibiting more of the latter than the former.
Maybe United are indeed missing De Gea, but holistically, the Red Devils’ problem isn’t even Andre Onana.
There’s also the issue of Ten Hag losing the dressing room and United players having one or two off-field cases to settle – Antony and Jadon Sancho being the latest.
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