The new Manchester United number one has already made a string of calamitous gaffes for Erik ten Hag's side
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Peter Schmeichel has pinpointed where he thinks Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana is failing.
David de Gea's successor as number one, Onana has endured a mistake-riddled start to life at United – making costly errors in the recent Champions League defeats to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray – after moving from Inter Milan for £43.8m in July.
And Schmeichel is particularly concerned about one aspect of the Cameroon international's game.
Peter Schmeichel (Image credit: Getty Images)
Analysing Mathias Jensen's goal for Brentford in United's dramatic 2-1 win at Old Trafford on Saturday, the iconic former Red Devils 'keeper told Premier League Productions: "The goalkeeper is not covering himself in glory in that one. My theory here is he's just lifting up. He's not setting off; his arm is coming up to go down, whereas, as a goalkeeper you learn to dive along the around for the ball; you don't go up to come down.
"We saw the same mistake against Bayern Munich and I notice the same thing: he just kind of lifts himself instead of actually diving and moving towards the ball.
"I think a lot of that is pressure. I spoke to him after Bayern; I spoke to him after the other Champions League match against Galatasaray as well; he's very down on the mistakes he's made."
"I'm trying to speak to him about what it's like to be at Manchester United, what you have to take."
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Despite seemingly wanting to help Onana through a tricky period, Schmeichel fears the 27-year-old's teammates have already begun to lose faith in him. He continued:
"Whatever you've made, you have to put it in a box straight away and put it to the side. So, you make a mistake in a game: it might be a mistake we see; it might be a mistake that we don't see; but you wait to think about it and analyse it until after the game or at night or whatever. You have to be there for the next moment; if you're not, you'll make the next mistake.
"And now he's upset the whole team. Now they will even more not trust him, and my god, it's not good."
Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...
