Erik Ten Hag To Stick With Andre Onana At Manchester United

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has declared he intends to stand by his goalkeeper Andre Onana despite a recent series of high-profile mistakes.

The Cameroonian international was at fault for all three goals United conceded in their 3-3 draw with Galatasaray in the Champions League on Wednesday, which has left them on the brink of going out of the tournament.

”If you analyse it well, then you will see he is the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League, based on stats,” the United manager said at a press conference on Friday.

“His expected defence on goal is the second best in the Premier League. So yes, he is doing well, but also he knows that, in the Champions League, he has had made some mistakes. But, overall, in the first five months, he is doing particularly well.”

Onana’s disastrous performance against Galatasaray was not the first time he has made costly errors for United this season, but Ten Hag expects him to deal with the pressure.

“You have seen how he is reacting after a bad performance, like he did after Munich,” he said. “Then after, against Burnley, he was outstanding. He is a strong character, a personality and he will deal with it.”

Ten Hag has an experienced back-up goalkeeper in Altay Bayindir, the 25-year-old Turkish international, who he signed from Fenerbahce in the summer, but for the moment he wants to stand by Onana, who is expected to start for United against Newcastle United on Saturday.

Ten Hag is aware of the scale of the task against Newcastle after they beat United 3-0 with an accomplished performance in the Carabao Cup at the start of last month.

”I really respect them as it is a difficult team to play against. It is a good challenge and I like to play against them because, in the challenge, we have to rise to the occasion. We have to be at our best against them because as I say, the way they play, I think is very good and very organised.”

United’s form has fluctuated this season, with them winning five of their last six games in the Premier League, while only winning once in their five Champions League games.

”We played very good against Galatasaray,” Ten Hag said. “In Copenhagen, we played very good and, even in Bayern Munich, we played very good. We have to do some things better, eliminating individual errors. Also things in the transition, but we can sort this out. I would be more concerned if we didn’t play that well.”

It is expected that United’s 18-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo will return to the starting line-up at Newcastle, after making his debut against Everton last weekend, but only being a substitute against Galatasaray on Wednesday.

”He showed on Sunday, he was ready, but we have to manage three games in six days to get the best results in all of those games. We have more than 11 players and we have good options there, like Sofyan Amrabat, who also showed that as he played a very good game. We have many options but we have to manage the load of the players. It is also about freshness as well.”

”His scanning, it always looks like he has time,” Ten Hag replied when he was asked what he likes about Mainoo as a player. “Because of his scanning, he is running free and the scanning to see the options and then make the right decisions. He can delay, he can speed up and he makes the right decisions.”