Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has taken the blame for his side’s failure to keep the ball out of the back of the net this season. The Red Devils have conceded a staggering 10 goals in their opening five Premier League matches and have already lost three times this campaign.
United kept a clean sheet against Wolves on the opening weekend of the season as they whimpered to a 1-0 victory. But Onana was fortunate not to concede a penalty at the end of the match after jumping into opposition striker Sasa Kalajdzic.
A week later, the Red Devils went down 2-0 at Tottenham before conceding another couple in their 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest. United’s defensive woes were plain to see by the end of August and, earlier this month, the team then conceded another six goals in their back-to-back 3-1 thrashings at the hands of Arsenal and Brighton respectively.
United signed Onana from Inter Milan in the summer after the club released David de Gea following the expiration of his contract. But the Cameroon international has come under fire for being beaten too easily. And he has now admitted his team-mates should be pointing their fingers at him.
“We’re in this together,” the 27-year-old said ahead of his side’s return to the Champions League on Wednesday night. “We win together, we lose together. Clean sheet – it’s for all of us. So when we concede goal, the responsibility is Andre Onana. My team-mates, they are working hard, and if they have to point a finger, they have to point it at me because I’m the goalkeeper.”
United had one of the meanest defences in the Premier League last season, with only champions Manchester City and Newcastle conceding fewer goals than the north west giants. But Wolves and Burnley are the only teams to have shipped more strikes this time around.
United boss Erik ten Hag will demand that his backline concede fewer chances in the coming weeks, with the Dutchman under pressure to turn his side’s poor form around quickly. And, addressing his team’s defensive frailties after the defeat to Brighton at the weekend, he explained: “We have to improve. There are things for the team and the individuals, who have to step up.
“Sometimes in those difficult periods, where we are now, you have to face that and you have to deal with that. In this moment we don’t deal well with it but we showed that last year, the resilience and determination, also in defence.”
