Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has spoken about how the qualities that Andre Onana possesses will enable his side to play in a completely different way this season.
Erik ten Haghas backedAndre Onanato transform the wayManchester Unitedplay after making the formerInter Milanstar his new No.1 goalkeeper.
Onana, 27, played under Ten Hag atAjaxand caught the eye with Inter last term as the Italian giants progressed to theChampions Leaguefinal. The Cameroon international only signed for Inter last summer butcompleted a £47million switch to Old Traffordearlier this month.
Ten Hag moved for Onana after dispensing with the services ofDavid de Gea,who had been United’s first-choice goalkeeper for over a decade. The Spaniard struggled to convince when playing out from the back last season andleft the clubafter a new contract failed to materialise.
And although Ten Hag has previously been reluctant to pinpoint De Gea’s technical weakness as the ɾєɑȿօɴ for his departure, the Dutchman has alluded to it in comments where he backed Onana to change how United play due to his “different profile”.
When he was asked about the qualities Onana will bring, Ten Hag told the media: “He’s a great goalkeeper and has a different profile. That’s why we wanted to sign him. With him, something will change in our game.”
Onana, who made his bow for United on the club’s pre-season tour of the United States, is expected to start thePremier Leaguecampaign in between the sticks for Ten Hag’s side.
Former Manchester United goalkeeperBen Foster, who now plies his τɾɑԀє atWrexham,admitted earlier this week that replacing De Gea with Onana was”probably” the right move- even though he would have stuck with the veteran for one more year.
“He’s obviously a very, very modern goalkeeper and that’s what it is nowadays,” Foster toldThe United Stand.”If Manchester United wanted to improve and progress, they had to sign Onana. That’s the way that it goes and it’s as simple as that. Whether or not the players around him are ready for that and be able to Ԁєɑł with constantly playing out from the back and him stepping up, acting like a real sweeper-keeper.
“I’ve seen the way he plays and he’s super high up, comfortably comes running out with the ball. That remains to be seen [if his teammates are ready for that]. It’ll be an interesting one but I do think it’s the right move, probably.”
He continued:”[Playing as United No.1] it’s a really hard job. If you can guarantee a 6/10 or 7/10 [performance] every week like David did, that is worth its weight in gold. Onana is a very confident player, I’ve seen him doing Cruyff turns and this kind of stuff.
“But it will only take one or two for him to get caught out. Then it makes you start thinking maybe you shouldn’t do that. Hopefully, he hits the ground running but it’s not as easy as that sometimes.”
