Andre Onana’s AFCON woes have only weakened his Man United position further – opinion – Man United News And Transfer News

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Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana finally got his first AFCON start on Friday against Senegal – after a nightmare journey from England – and it was one to forget.

Cameroon suffered a 3-1 loss at the hands of the Lions of Teranga whose goals were scored by Sadio Mane, Habib Diallo and Ismaila Sarr.

Onana was partially responsible for the manner in which all three goals were conceded. He was undeniably at fault for at least one of them. He came out of his goal to weakly punch an aerial ball straight into the path of an incoming Senegal player.

The rival star took a touch and calmly passed it to Sarr, who easily slotted the ball into the back of the net, behind Onana who just stood there watching.

For Senegal’s next two strikes, the United star looked extremely hapless. Mane’s goal, in particular, could have been stopped from going in had Onana not been so slow in reacting to the shot.

In many ways, the goalkeeper’s performance mirrored most of the displays United fans have come to expect from him since he arrived at Old Trafford in the summer.

The Red Devils paid a hefty £47.2m to sign the player from Inter Milan as a direct replacement for long-serving servant David de Gea.

Onana arrived to much pomp and excitement generated within a fanbase that had come to grow exasperated and tired of De Gea’s weaknesses that many felt were holding the team back and hindering Erik ten Hag from implementing his desired style of play.

Fresh off a very impressive campaign with Inter that culminated in a Champions League final clash vs. Manchester City in which Onana was excellent, there were a lot of expectations that the 27-year-old would transform United’s dynamic and help the side dominate games more and play on the front foot. There were positive signs in pre-season which only served to heighten this belief further.

However, the opposite proved to be the case once the season kicked off. So far in his United tenure, Onana has committed several high-profile mistakes that have dearly cost the club.

In the Champions League especially before United’s elimination, howlers from the shot-stopper became the order of the day. Many argued that he single-handedly ensured the 20-time English champions were dumped out of Europe and while football is factually a team sport at the end of the day, it’s hard to argue with that assessment.

Onana’s mistakes spilt over to the Premier League, where rival teams have seemingly become aware of his struggles in goal as a potential area of weakness to exploit.

He has made 30 appearances and featured for 2700 minutes across all competitions for United this season. In that time, Onana has let in 47 goals and only kept eight clean sheets. He has conceded an astronomic 29 goals in the Premier League alone.

While it’s not all down to him, it doesn’t help that he hardly looks up to the task nor does he inspire any confidence. Even beyond his mistakes, the United star’s weird diving technique has been called into question.

As with the Mane goal on Friday, Onana seems to always dive slowly and way too long after the shot has been dispatched and already out of his reach.

There have already been calls for Ten Hag to drop Onana in favour of giving his deputy, Altay Bayindir, a genuine chance between the sticks. The United boss has resisted such suggestions so far.

As if aware of his precarious position and the possibility of Bayindir taking his place in the starting XI, Onana elected to delay his departure to join up with the national team for AFCON. In a weird move that definitely raised eyebrows, he stayed long enough to play against both Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.

What followed was a horrible journey immediately after the Spurs game to Ivory Coast. Unsurprisingly, Onana missed Cameroon’s opener vs. Guinea as Rigobert Song gave the nod to Fabrice Ondoa. A video subsequently emerged of Onana in the tunnel being calmed down by former Liverpool and Senegal forward El-Hadji Diouf.

The United man was heard shouting, “If I wasn’t going to play or make the team, then why did I come here on a private jet?”

When he lined up against Senegal days later, he of course performed poorly and failed to justify his selection.

If he thought that AFCON would give him some respite from his troubles at United, it seems that Onana was terribly mistaken. If anything his claim to be regarded as an undisputed starter for the club has significantly become weakened.

It’s evident that whether he’s playing for United or Cameroon, he’s highly susceptible to calamitous mistakes and moments of absolute shambles. Appeals to have Bayindir given a chance will only grow louder and it may reach a point that Ten Hag may no longer be able to stick by his man.

If Cameroon come crashing out of AFCON on Tuesday when they face Gambia, Onana will likely be back in time for United’s FA Cup fourth-round clash against Newport County.

He may find himself with a whole set of problems to deal with should he make his return off the back of yet another woeful display. One thing that’s certain is that his position is not secure.

Confidence in him is waning and if he can’t turn the situation around, United may ultimately have to cut their losses and look into the market for solutions.

Often, United goalkeepers don’t have the best starts to life at the club, but they always improve, pick up the pieces and proceed to achieve incredible things. De Gea is a typical example.

However, unlike his predecessor who was 20 when he joined United, Onana is 27 and his window for improvement is far more limited. He also boasts of more experience under his belt in comparison to De Gea in 2011.