The most troubling thing for Manchester United is the similarity in mistakes being made and Andre Onana is now facing scrutiny following errors similar to David de Gea’s.
After conceding 14 goals in his first six United appearances, the spotlight is already burning on Onana in an uncomfortable way.
Onana allowed Leroy Sane’s relatively feeble shot to slip past him, reminiscent of instances involving David de Gea against Brentford or West Ham last season.
The Red Devils spent £47million on Onana because they felt De Gea was making too many high-profile errors, which were outweighing his shot stopping abilities.
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In Onana’s first six games for United, he has recorded 25 saves with several crucial ones in the second half in Munich that kept them in the game.
In De Gea’s first six games last season, he managed just 18 saves while in his last six games for United, a mere 16.
Also it’s not solely Onana’s responsibility as more shots are finding their way through.
Nonetheless, he is allowing more goals and there have been a few instances where he could have performed better.
For instance he ended up stumbling when trying to prevent Taiwo Awoniyi scoring Nottingham Forest’s opener at Old Trafford and Joao Pedro’s strike for Brighton last weekend went through his gloves.
However, it’s still much too early to make a final judgment on Onanab and it’s certainly premature to dismiss his potential.
It’s important to remember that De Gea also faced criticism as being ‘too weak for the Premier League’ in his early United matches in 2011.
After settling in, he went on to solidify his position as one of the world’s best goalkeepers and was consistently recognized as United’s player of the season.
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What’s encouraging about Onana is his readiness to take responsibility when things haven’t gone as planned.
“It’s a difficult situation for me, I let the team down. It’s because of me we didn’t win this game,’ he within minutes of the final whistle in Munich.
“We started very well and after my mistake we lost control of the game. I still have a lot to prove. My start hasn’t been so good, not how I wanted,” he added.
While comparisons between Onana and De Gea are arising due to their respective journeys at Manchester United, it’s crucial to acknowledge the early challenges both goalkeepers faced
Just as De Gea overcame initial doubts to become a world-class goalkeeper, Onana’s mental resilience in confronting setbacks demonstrate his potential for growth and improvement.
