Andre Onana is increasingly worried he may not regain his place at Manchester United if he goes to the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon next year.
Onana’s position is under renewed scrutiny after his errors in United’s chaotic 3-3 draw against Galatasaray.
It was the latest in a series of mistakes Onana has made this season, and the goalkeeper is thought to fear his situation at Old Trafford could be further complicated if he takes full advantage of the possible month-long absence of his understudy Altay Bayındır in January and February. African Nations in Ivory Coast.
Cameroon will begin their tournament against Guinea on January 15, with Onana missing four Premier League matches, culminating in an FA Cup fourth round tie with his country likely to reach the final on February 11.
Onana retired from international football following a disagreement with Cameroon head coach Rigobert Song when he returned home from the World Cup in Qatar 12 months ago. The football player, who agreed to return for the last African Nations qualifier against Burundi in September due to pressure from the government and the Cameroon Football Federation, is expected to be included in the tournament squad.
But Onana is thought to be reluctant to stay away from United at a time when he is determined to overcome his problems and prove why manager Erik ten Hag wants the club to invest £47million in the summer to sign the goalkeeper from Inter. Milan.
Turkish goalkeeper Bayındır, who has yet to feature for the club since his £4.3m transfer from Fenerbahçe on September 1, is looking for a chance to show his value and knows Onana’s possible absence at the start of next year could provide that opportunity. It does not come before then.
Now it’s time for the ten Witches to let go of Onana
The simple fact is that if an outfield player had made the individual mistakes that Andre Onana has made for Manchester United this season, he would have been dropped by now.
If Erik ten Hag was already considering keeping his first-choice goalkeeper away from the team for a while, he has so far resisted the temptation.
Following Onana’s latest display of gaffes in Wednesday’s chaotic 3-3 draw against Galatasaray in Istanbul, it has become even more difficult for the United manager to get around the issue.
Ten Hag’s patience and support has been admirable but there are games to be won and with the December fixture list looking inexcusable, that’s exactly what Ten Hag’s goalkeeper needs to have.
There is enough distrust in this team and there has been enough turbulence in the backline due to constant injury problems without players second-guessing a goalkeeper who spreads unrest.
Several Galatasaray players, including former Ajax team-mate Hakim Ziyech, whose free-kick the Cameroonian failed badly with, chatted to Onana at the final whistle, while he was the only United player to console him. If Ten Hag were to wield the axe, who would likely replace him between the posts.
Altay Bayındır had stepped onto the field to relieve Onana and deserved praise for doing so; It was sensible human management, just like Ten Hag not publicly blaming the No.1 player after a bruising result.
Throwing players under the bus is no way to foster trust and unity and Onana will need some love, but a period away from the spotlight might be the best thing for him right now.
Starting in the first 11 for Bayındır, who has never played in the Premier League before and like Onana, only came to the club in the summer, will bring its own risks. But are they more important right now than maintaining their faith in Onana?
Galatasaray are not the first opponents to adopt a direct shot policy against United this season and it is hard to believe that Newcastle, who face a tough game at St James’ Park on Saturday night, will resist a similar approach.
After that, United have Chelsea, Bournemouth, Bayern Munich and Liverpool to play; Not the kind of run you want when your goalkeeper is having a crisis of confidence.
Likewise, given that Onana will be out of action for January and perhaps part of February due to the Africa Cup of Nations, Bayındır will probably need to join the team at some point, so why not now?
So will Ten Hag be ruthless? Given that he was firmly behind David de Gea last season, it’s not a given even when the mistakes start to pile up and the Dutchman decides he needs a new goalkeeper.
Ten Hag, who committed £47m to sign Onana from Inter Milan in the summer, 12 months after he became available on a free transfer, undoubtedly feels a loyalty towards the player and this deal needs to work. Equally, he might be more inclined to focus on Onana’s three clean sheets, which United have kept in their last three League matches, rather than his deflections and other mistakes on Wednesday.
He may also believe that Onana needs more displays of faith than ever before. This is a big dilemma for the Dutch.
But Ten Hag’s other summer signings paid the price for failing to deliver; So it should be no different for Onana, for whom he apologized for his blunder against Bayern Munich in United’s opening Champions League Group A match in September. to come.
Mason Mount had to adjust to life on the bench before another injury ruled him out of contention for good, and Sofyan Amrabat had a rare start against Galatasaray.
This does not mean that Ten Hag was wrong to bring in a new goalkeeper and that the sudden revisionism about De Gea serves no purpose. It was unfortunate that United handled his departure ineptly and the Spaniard deserved better after such service.
But there was hardly an army of United fans who were openly opposed to his departure, and there were many who thought a change between positions was needed for Ten Hag to improve the team’s build-up play from the back.
At the same time, De Gea’s departure required an upgrade and, while these were still early days for Onana, he fell well short of the required standards.
At 27 years old and having played in the Champions League final as recently as June, Onana’s struggles cannot be attributed to inexperience, youthful naivety or physical development issues, any more than the 20-year-old De Gea finding himself for the first time. Feet in the Premier League.
United needed to buy the ready-made goalkeeper but from his questionable usage, odd positioning and set-up, to his unbalanced style and scattered focus, Onana looks everything. Even the distribution for which he was best known was far from convincing.
Ten Hag may be wary of being demoted from his No.1 position, but United cannot continue to allow so many errors and expect it not to hinder progress.