Onana v De Gea verdict after Man Utd keeper’s latest error

After his error gave Ipswich Town an early lead in their Premier League game on Wednesday evening, Andre Onana is once more in the spotlight.

Despite having just 10 players to play, United rallied and eventually won the game, winning it 3-2. However, this error has rekindled the debate over the Cameroon international.

The 28-year-old had a difficult first year of life at Old Trafford, but his appearance turned around earlier this year when he posted six clean sheets, leading England’s top flight.

He did, however, provide an example of why United fans and pundits have a long-standing doubt about him four minutes into the game against the Tractor Boys.

As Patrick Dorgu approached him, he sprinted to the edge of his penalty area, and the left wing-back nudged the ball in his direction where he had anticipated Onana. Jaden Philogene received a tap-in.

Later, the former Aston Villa winger scored from a powerful cross that Liam Delap’s run across him caused him to deceive Onana.

Speaking on TNT Sports, former Blackburn and Wales midfielder Robbie Savage said: “I’ve got no idea why Onana is running out to that position]for the first goal].

” Dorgu has got it under control, no problem at all. He shouldn’t come there.

He should be talking, so he can return it to him with his right foot before he can clear it. I don’t know why he’s come”.

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand added: “It was a terrible start. Onana doesn’t need to come. He can simply hold his ground and let the full-back play it back to him because he has complete control over everything.

In 2023, United paid £47 million to replace David de Gea, who had been a four-time club player of the year, at Inter Milan.

However, he has largely failed to accept the fact that a struggling side’s fragility is worsened by his sporadic fallibility.

In the Champions League last year, Onana committed a number of flagrant errors, all of which contributed to United’s lopsided and premature exit from the group stage.

His performance in the 1-0 defeat at Tottenham, where he pushed Lucas Bergvall’s tame effort straight into the path of goalscorer James Maddison, encouraged further scrutiny.

His understudy, Turkey’s Altay Bayindir, has played just seven times since joining in September 2023 and is yet to start a Premier League game.

Questions surround the decision to let De Gea, Dean Henderson, and Matej Kovar leave for less than half the amount Inter were paid for their goalkeeper due to Onana’s form and his reluctance to use Bayindir.

He shoots more shots saves than Onana, which is 72 versus 65, and he hasn’t committed any major errors that directly result in goals, compared to Onana’s three.

In mitigation, De Gea has faced fewer shots (90 to 111) and Onana has also had to contend with a switch in formation from 4-3-3 to 3-4-3 under a new manager in Ruben Amorim.

In any of the 23 games that the Portuguese boss has taken over, he has had the habit of replacing one of his three central defenders after about an hour. He has also not yet named an unchanged starting lineup.

That can’t help foster relationships and understanding at the back, and Onana can’t be held responsible for some of the static defending he does in front of him.

Onana has occasionally saved crucial saves this season, it should be noted.

In addition, Fiorentina are in better shape than United, competing for a spot in Italy’s Premier League while United is only a lowly 14th.

However, a perhaps surprising statistic against Onana centres around passing accuracy, given he was brought in as the calatyst towards a possession-based style of play.

De Gea trails Onana by just 1%, despite making significantly fewer passes, despite not being noted for his foot dexterity. His pass-through rates at United, which were 73% higher than Onana’s this year, were also higher.

Massimo Taibi, a former United goalkeeper, believes Onana might be on borrowed time after his famous howler against Southampton in 1999 led to his own departure from Old Trafford.

“I think subconsciously the United environment isn’t ideal for him and when a marriage is showing cracks, it’s pointless to continue”, he told the Sun in December.

“I’d be straight to the point and tell him, ‘ Andre, you are one of the best keepers in Europe but in the Premier League, you are under-performing. Block out criticism, do some soul-searching, press the reset and go again. And if things don’t change by June, move on'”.