We like United coaches who support their own players when the microphone is turned on. It was at times downright embarrassing when Jose Mourinho lashed out at his own players in front of the TV cameras. Ten Hag’s characterization of Jadon Sancho didn’t belong in front of a microphone either. It is therefore reassuring to hear Ruben Amorim when asked about the goalkeeper situation at United, but it still does not solve what many would describe as a sporting crisis in the last defence.
We remember David de Gea had some ugly goalkeeping blunders, but when you’ve guarded the cage for 545 games for Manchester United, then you should be allowed to have a few bad days at work. What made De Gea that, or one of the Premier League’s best goalkeepers season in and season out, was that the Spaniard showed a high-level continuity, a continuity that created security for defenders.
Andre Onana’s debut season represented the opposite of security. This season, the world-class goalkeeper in Onana has emerged, but without the continuity. Against Ipswich, we saw it again, before the Fulham game, Amorim was asked about the last chance.
“Sometimes he’s had some big moments that have saved our team, and other times he’s had some challenges. But it is normal. If you look at our team, you can find a lot of players with challenges, so we don’t perform as well as a team. And sometimes some players have a little problem, says Amorim at the press conference.
Manchester United’s first goalkeeper is never “one of the players”. The luxury of being able to make a handful of mistakes during a game does not apply to a United goalkeeper. The predecessor of Onana dealt with this. We believe the opportunity to bring back David de Gea as a big player in Serie A should be exploited.
