Having stood between the sticks at Old Trafford himself, the pundit has had sympathy for the Red Devils' shot-stopper
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Mark Bosnich knows what it’s like to replace a long-serving goalkeeper at Manchester United – and he’s had sympathy with Andre Onana during a challenging first season at Old Trafford.
The Australian began the 1999-2000 campaign as Manchester United goalkeeper following the departure of Peter Schmeichel – this season, Onana joined the club as the replacement for David de Gea.
In his role as a pundit on Australian television, Bosnich saw enough of the Cameroonian at Inter to know that Onana is undoubtedly a talented goalkeeper, even if he’s had rocky spells in his first campaign at Manchester United.
“I watch a lot of football around Europe, and I had the pleasure last season of watching him help propel Inter to the Champions League final, and also do so well in Serie A,” Bosnich told FourFourTwo.
“He was absolutely exceptional, so I thought when he went to Manchester United, that was a really good buy. He’d been with Erik ten Hag before at Ajax, he’d been a youngster at Barcelona, he’s very adept at playing out, too.
“But for quite some time this season, he was very disappointing. There was a feeling that every time a shot came, he was going to let one in. I don’t really know what was happening there.
“He’s not as protected at Manchester United, though. I felt for him. The greatest test for any goalkeeper is the Premier League, because you're not as protected as in Italy, where defending is an art form. At Inter, he was very well protected by their three centre backs.
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“Slowly but surely though, you could see signs there that he’s been getting a grip of things. I know there's a lot of people that still think ‘Yeah, but’. Recently though, especially the first half against Liverpool, I thought he was outstanding.”
(Image credit: PA)
Bosnich thinks that some of the criticism he’s received has been because the team as a whole has had a difficult season – in Ten Hag’s second campaign in charge, they currently sit sixth in the Premier League. The club are now without a league title in 11 years, having dominated during the reign of Sir Alex Ferguson.
“There are still lingering doubts about Onana and there will be – there will be about the whole of Manchester United until they start to get things back to where they were,” Bosnich said.
“That’s the enduring question about Manchester United. Will they get back? Once you've seen how high the club can go, anything beneath that… we’ve seen it before with Liverpool, after their dominance of the 70s and 80s.
“Until Manchester United are back in that position challenging with Manchester City, with Liverpool, and with Arsenal in the last couple seasons, people are always going to have complaints.
“When you’re a top player, you take the plaudits that come when things are going well. But as a top player, as with the manager, you’ve got to take the criticism that comes when things aren’t going exactly to plan – and they really haven’t this season.
“There’s no doubt about that, whichever way you want to look at it, second season syndrome, this, that and the other – this season has not has not been a good season for Manchester United.
“They’ve got to do everything they possibly can to finish strongly now. From my experience, teams that finish weak start the next season weak, and I don’t think Erik ten Hag can afford that if he is to stay.
“If he is to stay, INEOS are going to be watching. If he starts off in a poor manner, then he’s going to really struggle to survive. The foundations are laid down at the end of the previous season.”
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Chris joined FourFourTwo in 2015 and has reported from more than 20 countries, in places as varied as Ivory Coast and the Arctic Circle. He's interviewed Pele, Zlatan and Santa Claus (it's a long story), as well as covering the World Cup, AFCON and the Clasico. He previously spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist, and completed the 92 in 2017.
