Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has served a reminder that David de Gea had a difficult start at Old Trafford, just like Andre Onana. Summer signing Onana is enduring a tough spell between the sticks but Ferdinand has backed him to come good.
United were in need of a new goalkeeper following the exit of De Gea in the summer. The Spaniard left after failing to finalise terms on a new contract.
Onana was the first choice for Erik ten Hag, who managed the player before at Ajax. A fee of up to £47.2million was agreed in July and he was immediately installed as the new Red Devils No 1.
But the 27-year-old has already committed a number of high-profile mistakes, the latest in Saturday’s late comeback win over Brentford. Onana’s performances have seen doubters raise question marks over his long-term place in the side.
However, Ferdinand has pointed out how De Gea had similar struggles early in his United career. De Gea joined United from Atletico Madrid in 2011 but was seven years younger than Onana is now.
Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel Rio Ferdinand Presents Five: “[Onana] should have made the save. In training, he probably makes that save every day. I saw a quote from Peter Schmeichel, who spoke to him and told him not to let [the pressure of] Man Utd get to you.
“At the moment, there are nerves that are in there, because of the mistakes. A lot of people are asking if he can recover.
“I was there when David De Gea came. He was obviously younger, different ends of their careers obviously, but he didn’t start well, you know. I think in his first 10 games or so, the numbers are very similar to Onana in terms of conceding goals.”
Onana has owned up to his mistakes, especially after the Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich last month. Ferdinand says the Cameroon star is trying to build confidence in his own game, something he says is clearly lacking.
He added: “If you were to speak to Onana himself, I think he would say, ‘This is not the start I wanted, this is nowhere near the level I am used to performing at and this is not the standard required at Man Utd so I need to buck up my ideas’.
“You wouldn’t be [confident]. When you make mistakes, the confidence falls out of you.
“He’s trying to build confidence, to find a confidence element from the weekend. You got three points, he’s made a big mistake.”
