Andre Onana can hold his head up despite Manchester United results – opinion | OneFootball

It’s fair to say Manchester United have not had the best start to the 2024/2025 campaign. A stutter and a whimper have seen us with three wins in nine across all competitions and a dismal, 13th in the league.

After an eight-placed finish last season and winning the FA Cup, a review from the newly appointed INEOS structure saw Erik ten Hag keep his job and have his contract extended until the end of the 2025/26 season.

Significant improvement was needed in the league after the review and backing in the transfer market and ultimately, this hasn’t happened sparking questions over Ten Hag’s future.

Not many players can hold their heads high with their performances so far this season, but there has been one man who has stopped further embarrassment for the Dutch manager.

Andre Onana has been the standout performer for the club this season and is starting to show the goalkeeper he was in the run to the Champions League final with Inter Milan. Occasional mistakes in his debut season at Manchester United led some to debate whether he was an adequate replacement for fan favourite David de Gea.

The Cameroonian goalkeeper has shown so far this season that he is capable of fulfilling the former United No. 1’s boots. The forward line has struggled to find the back of the net, scoring only 5 from an XG of 10.5, the fifth-highest in the league.

It is Onana sparing the blushes of Ten Hag conceding only 8 goals from 11XG conceded according to FutMob. The largest over performance in the division and second in Europe.

The defensive stats show United are competing defensively with relegation candidates and had It not been for Onana, our position in the league would be much worse.

He is currently leading the clean sheets table with Alison and David Raya with a respectable three from six league games and his saves have been a major contributing factor.

His seven saves against Tottenham stopped the scoreline from becoming a further embarassment and his incredible double save against Crystal Palace were two particular moments that deservedly named our Player of the Month for September.

Ten Hag is fighting for his job but without Onana in goal, arguably, he could have already lost it.