Man Utd star blamed for making Onana look ‘TERRIBLE’

Robin Bairner

• 1 May 2024 06:25 BST
• 4 min read

Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has been made to look “terrible” this season by Harry Maguire, according to Ryan Babel, a former teammate of the shot-stopper.

Onana moved to Old Trafford from Inter last summer in a rushed move after David de Gea surprisingly left the club at the end of his deal.

It has been a baptism of fire for the Cameroon international at Old Trafford, with the 28-year-old allowing a string of soft goals to be scored soon after arriving at Man Utd. Although he has improved lately, he has been far from flawless – and Babel is pointing the finger squarely at Maguire.

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André Onana

GK

Man Utd

André Onana

GK

Man Utd

€43.7M

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€32.8M - €54.6M

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“Andre Onana is a great goalkeeper, I played with him at Ajax and he went on and continued to show what he’s capable of at Inter,” Babel claimed in quotes relayed by the Metro.

“And then he signed for Man United and for some reason it hasn’t worked out. That’s concerning. It’s been so long that these supporters have had to suffer, they want immediate impact and results, especially from new signings.

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“I know the spotlight is on Onana a lot in this United team, but the mistakes we’ve seen are as a result of a combination of things.

“Onana, at Ajax, had a back four in front of him who were all incredible with the ball at their feet.

“Respectfully, if Onana is then playing with Harry Maguire, then that immediately puts Onana in trouble, because he’s playing with defenders who aren’t opening themselves up, or making the right runs, so that Onana has options to play, and that puts him in trouble.

“At Ajax, Onana had the privilege of four great defenders, and Frenkie de Jong in front of them. Onana is a great goalkeeper, but they made him look even better.

“If a set of players don’t work well together, it makes some of those players in particular look terrible. In this case, that’s what Onana has experienced.”

Maguire not entirely to blame

Babel did concede that the keeper has brought some of his problems on himself.

“Absolutely, though, some mistakes have been completely his fault; sometimes you question his positioning, or you just wonder what he’s doing,” he added.

“He’s not been himself in my opinion, but from what I know of him, and what I’ve seen, he’s an incredibly talented goalkeeper, and I hope that more people can see that next season for Manchester United.”

Onana has played 46 times for United, conceding 75 goals in the process.