Onana is world-class but his style is risky – please let’s be gentle with him

Andre Onana will be Manchester United’s No 1 for the 2023-24 season.

The 27-year-old succeeding David de Gea is one of the biggest on-field changes in United’s recent history. The Cameroon international has shown with Inter Milan that he is not simply a shot-stopper but is also tremendous when in possession, capable of a variety of passes to beat the opposition press and kickstart his own team’s attacks.

Signing him is a minor coup for Erik ten Hag. Not only has he recruited one of the best goalkeepers in the world, but he’s also got a player who has already experienced the Dutch coach’s preferred style of football — Onana played under Ten Hag 145 times for Ajax of the Netherlands over four and a half years from January 2018.

After 12 years of having De Gea almost exclusively between the posts, it will take some time for United fans to get used to the sight of their goalkeeper dribbling the ball out of his penalty area and playing clipped passes, but Onana will excite them with his audacious playing style. He will also cause concern, playing on the cusp of confidence and hubris in a position that, according to United defender turned TV pundit Gary Neville, is scrutinised more than in any other in a United XI.

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Onana’s first few games for the club will have commentators discuss the virtues of building from the back versus kicking long to reduce the danger. There will be comparisons to goalkeepers of United’s past, be they the maverick stylings of Fabien Barthez or the legendary Peter Schmeichel. Onana will be responsible for more United victories than defeats in the coming season, but there will be those fraught moments that come for every goalkeeper. Any error he makes over the next 10 months will be dissected and discussed.

As Onana prepares for life at United, he must also prepare himself for some unfortunate possibilities. He may have to apologise if his attempts to play out for the back result in the opposing team scoring a goal. It is a road walked by some of the Premier League’s leading goalkeepers; where they express regret for a blunder, but tell us all that they remain committed to their style of play.

Onana brings the ball out for Inter Milan in the Champions League (Photo: Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images)

Soon after Alisson arrived at Liverpool from Italy’s Roma in the summer of 2018, he apologised for a momentary lapse in concentration while receiving a Virgil van Dijk backpass which led to an easy goal for Leicester City, who went on to win the game 2-1.

“I wanted to keep playing and keep the possession (and) now everyone is going to analyse that,” said the Brazilian. “I’m not going to be stupid and make the same mistake. We have to learn from our mistakes.

“It is part of my game (playing out from the back with his feet) but I am not going to be arrogant to stand here and say I’m going to keep doing it. We have to learn from our mistakes.”

Last season saw Manchester City’s Ederson in the same position after a mistake against Tottenham Hotspur allowed an easy goal for Dejan Kulusevski. Ball-playing goalkeepers come with a different risk to outfield positions. Their errors are most keenly felt, yet managers persist with them, knowing the benefits are worth it.

“Football, in the way I play, the team plays, we can make mistakes. We need to be prepared for all circumstances,” Ederson told City’s official website. “Against Tottenham, my mistake ended up in a goal, but I won’t change my way of playing — always calm, searching for the best solution. It’s not the first time or the last that I made a mistake, and I’ll keep doing the same things.”

Onana is well-acquainted with The Goalkeeper’s Apology.

His weak attempt to claim a cross in a December 2020 Champions League game against Liverpool at Anfield allowed Curtis Jones to score the only goal of the night.

“I made a mistake. I have nothing more to say,” Onana said. “It’s my mistake and I’m responsible. We didn’t draw or win today because of me. I take all the blame.”

As the table below demonstrates, all top goalkeepers make mistakes. Sometimes, these lead to the opposition having an easy shot. Sometimes, these lead to the opposition scoring.

Goalkeeping has changed, and Manchester United supporters will need time to adjust their expectations and relax as Onana gets comfortable playing in front of an Old Trafford crowd.

Onana finished his final Serie A campaign conceding more goals than his expected goals on target (xGOT) number, which can serve as a helpful measure of how many goals an ‘average’ goalkeeper is expected to concede if facing the same volume and type of shots.

Still, as the table below demonstrates, it is a metric where even some of the Premier League’s best goalkeepers can look foolish. Ederson had a disappointing shot-stopping season in 2022-23 but was essential to City’s style of play as they won a third straight title. Onana will hopefully become integral to neighbours United in the same manner.

Fans must be mindful, however, of racist stereotypes and the prospect of abuse Onana may face next season.

He will be United’s 10th African player, and their first black goalkeeper since Tim Howard left for Everton in 2007.

Onana’s career has already gone a long way to debunking outdated stereotypes around black — particularly African — goalkeepers being too error-prone and unreliable to make it at the top level. But he, like any goalkeeper, is fallible. United fans will have to get used to his adventurous style of play but Onana, unfortunately, has to be aware that any mistakes he does make could lead to him being the subject of some of the worst kinds of abuse.

Again, this is something he is well acquainted with.

Last season saw UEFA, European football’s governing body, investigate taunts and apparent racial abuse directed at him during a Champions League game away to Czech side Viktoria Plzen, and Onana has also talked to the media about the difficulties black goalkeepers face throughout their careers. Nearly four years ago, he told French football magazine Mondial an Italian club he did not identify were interested in him shortly after the 2016-17 Europa League final (where his Ajax side lost 2-0 to United), only for them to pause at the last moment and tell his agent signing a black goalkeeper would be “complicated”.

Onana prefers to block out the noise where possible and focus on his game, but he is mindful of the extra pressure heaped upon black goalkeepers and the barriers they have to face when playing.

“I’m used to this most of the time when I play away games,” he said in that same interview. “I remember last year when I played against Utrecht I had something with the fans, but for me it is something normal.

“(They say), ‘You are black’. (I think) ‘Yeah, I am black’.”

Onana training with Inter last season (Photo: Gabriel Bouys/AFP via Getty Images)

In a position that comes with heavy scrutiny, Onana wants to be the best, but is aware of how many disregard his and other black goalkeepers’ talents at a casual glance.

“We don’t have a lot of black goalkeepers at the top and people already have in their mind that black goalkeepers are not confident or they make too many mistakes,” Onana continued. “It’s something we have to change. It’s not easy for us to arrive at that level especially when you are black but, for me, it really doesn’t matter — black or white, in the end, I am a goalkeeper.”

Onana is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, is perfectly suited to Ten Hag’s ideals, and is someone who can make everyone in front of him play better. But as Premier League fans get used to his sometimes superhuman feats, they must also remember his very human fallibility and the racist undercurrents that will try to deny him his basic humanity.

Onana’s goalkeeping style is spectacular when it works, but please remember to be gentle with him when it doesn’t.

(Top photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images)