I’m about to make a bold and uncomfortable prediction: If Manchester United’s current manager, Erik Ten Hag, has his contract prematurely terminated—whether by mutual agreement or due to failure to meet the board’s expectations—the incoming manager will likely look to replace André Onana with their own preferred goalkeeper.

In my previous article titled The Provisional Hope, I outlined my concerns about Andrés current form in his quest to establish himself as a formidable elite goalkeeper and the challenges he’s encountered after a less than impressive below standards season debut for Manchester United. Three premier league games into the new season, and he has picked up from where he left last season, that is, reeling in mediocre performances. As the saying goes, “the numbers don’t lie.” He is in the unenviable position as being the only Manchester United goalkeeper to concede 63 goals in his first 41 Premiership games. I cautioned that unless he, his management team, or his goalkeeping coaching staff are made aware that Onana needs to significantly intensify his work ethic to improve certain aspects of his skill set, he will face unavoidable consequences. Three EPL games into the 2024/25 season, not only has conceded 5 goals, but he also has displayed no signs of improvement on his weaknesses, which I will be discussing later. I became immediately concerned when I watched him during a preseason game against Liverpool, which they lost 3-0. He appeared unfit, flat-footed on all 3 goals he conceded, and was finding it difficult to move effortlessly around his goal area. It truly was not an easy watch.

As his position weakens due to constantly churning out sub-par performances, his stock is increasingly being devalued at an alarming rate, placing him at a disadvantageous position when contract renegotiations are conducted, provided if Manchester United are still happy with his services. Even in the event of a trade-off, the club will yield an -EV in their return of investment, therefore its only reasonable for Manchester United and their stakeholders to ensure the security in yield of their investment. Onana’s management team is heavily invested in his success, but I am surprised by the fact that they themselves aren’t aware and alarmed of the current trend in his form and how detrimental it is to the future of the project. To understand just how dire the situation has become for André, one only needs to look at the reactions from fans, football enthusiasts, parody accounts, and influential commentators on social media platforms —where the criticism has even spilled over into some sections on mainstream media. The sarcastic vitriol directed at André is overwhelming, especially considering that social media now dominates how we consume, process, and perceive information. Organizations and institutions are well aware of the power and influence these platforms hold, making the stakes incredibly high for André Onana and those connected to him.

André Onana may still harbour some past issues in relation to his tenure at Ajax, but as for his actual goalkeeping skillsets abilities, I’ve observed the three main disciplines he is having difficulty in the process of execution. These are : –

• Communication and Leadership
• Set-positioning and Movement
• Agility and Reflexes

Communication and Leadership

Communication skills are the most important faculty to be successful in any undertaking, which in turn manifests into leadership roles. Prime examples of goalkeepers with excellent communication skills that earned them leadership roles both for club and country are Peter Schmeichel, Oliver Kahn, Bernard Lama, Gianluigi Buffon, Hope Solo,  Dino Zoff, Luis Chilavert etc. These iconic goalkeepers cultivated unique character traits that were revered and respected by their teammates, but in André Onanas situation, the opposite seems to be the case.

After analyzing the 63 goals conceded in the Premier League so far, it is clear that over half are due to poor communication. The Manchester United defence appears out of sync with the goalkeeper, leading to disorganization whenever they face an attack. In the last two Premier League matches, Manchester United suffered a 0-3 defeat at home to rivals Liverpool FC and a 2-1 loss away to Brighton and Hove. The communication issues are evident, as the defence tends to panic and lose discipline, collectively gravitating toward the direction of play. Footage of these goals clearly illustrates the underlying problems.

Video A – This is a classic example of  “ball watching,” where everyone’s eyes are locked on the movement of the ball without any sense of awareness as to the total absence of their off-the-ball duties. This resulted to 3 of the Brighton attackers queuing up at the back post to score, which they did.

Video B – United loses the ball at the centre, and immediately panic mode sets in as the defenders get drawn towards the incoming counter-attack, leaving a large area of the defensive right for two of the Liverpool attackers to run freely into space to score.

Video C – Liverpool having understood United defensive leaks applies the same tactics by playing the overlap pass to pick Mo Sala to score the third goal.

In all three instances, André should have anticipated these plays before they escalated, as the opponents had already signalled their intent through previous patterns of play. He needed to warn his defenders of the looming threats, but the question remains: Was he aware of these patterns? Did he recognize them and alert his defence, but no action was taken? Did he communicate his observations, only for them to be misunderstood? Most importantly, does his defensive unit trust his judgment, observations, and instructions? The truth is that the defensive unit, including the goalkeeper, appears disjointed and lacks leadership. It is unequivocally obvious that the lack of effective communication will reduce even the most skilful goalkeeper to the levels of incompetency and unwarranted ridicule. The ability to anticipate, process, and convey information effectively that reflects the requirements of a particular outcome epitomizes leadership.

Set-positioning and Movement

André employs a specific movement technique when positioning himself against incoming threats. He takes large laboured lateral strides, which delays his ability to settle into his preferred A-frame set position by about half a second. This impacts his reaction time, and by the time he initiates the dive, the ball has already found the back of the net. I have watched closely from the goals he’s conceded, and a sizeable amount has been consistent in this format. It must be noted that a lot of elite-level modern goalkeepers adopt the A Frame set-positioning mainly because it’s easier to deploy the ground block save with the legs or feet, but I’ve always argued this discipline is highly exploitable if executed on a high frequency. In the photo depicted, deploying the A Frame set-positioning in this situation is counterproductive because he’s already flat-footed and executing a dive either way will result in a negative step and gaining little to no ground distance  covered when the dive is eventually deployed.

It would be interesting to know if Manchester United’s goalkeeping coaching staff uses technical assessments backed by database analytics to evaluate specific skills like positioning and movement, and whether they study the effects, benefits, or drawbacks, recommending changes when necessary. From what I can see, André Onana hasn’t made any adjustments to address the issue, which suggests that either the coaching staff is content with his style, or they lack the ability to troubleshoot beyond their traditional goalkeeping training methods. Either way, it’s not a good reflection on them, and, more importantly, it’s harmful to Onana’s chances of building a legacy at Manchester United.

The bottom line is that there are goalkeepers outside of the English Premier League that are just as competent, if not better, than what André is currently displaying as his current best in this particular department of set-positioning and movement and as such, must be under no illusion that Manchester United will replace him swiftly if he continues on this current trend.

Agility and Reflexes

During Manchester United’s preseason friendly in the USA against Liverpool, which they lost 3-0, André Onana struggled with his movement, affecting his agility and reflexes. This seemed to stem from a lack of match fitness, which was concerning with the new season just less than a couple of weeks away. Generating explosive power—which is the epitome of what agility entails—requires constant movement, using shuffles or lateral steps based on the direction of action, and adopting the set position on the balls of the feet. Many goalkeepers, including André, fail at this critical point, often becoming flat-footed. This results in reduced power when diving, leaping for high balls, or collecting crosses, as seen in the three examples where his lack of footwork left him motionless.

Reflex actions for goalkeepers are a blend of finely-tuned muscle memory, constant processing of visual stimuli, and years of instinctual learning. Constant movement, proper positioning, and quick, automatic responses allow goalkeepers to react swiftly to the unpredictable nature of the game. The nervous system, intuition, decision making, muscle memory and the quality and methodology of training received all sharpens the reflexes. It would be interesting to learn more about André’s training methods, as his performances for Manchester United so far suggest that his agility and reflexes are merely average compared to the high standards expected of an elite goalkeeper.

Conclusion

Manchester United has been on a journey of redemption and reconstruction for more than a decade after the golden era of Sir Alex Ferguson, and it has been very rough and difficult. The time of redemption is here and now, and it would be fitting that the first African (Cameroonian) goalkeeper to play for the club will be part of the evolutionary process. The irony is that the evolutionary process starts from within and as long as Andre Onana is made aware or is aware of the fact that he must review and make fundamental changes and adjustments to his holistic approach on his skillset abilities, he will not be around to be part of the evolution which is still at its early stages at Manchester United.

At the time of writing, Manchester United secured a 3-0 Premier League victory away to Southampton, marking their fourth game of the season. André Onana saved a penalty and delivered an overall solid performance, which will undoubtedly boost his confidence. While some critics may dismiss this as a one-off performance, my view is that Onana must now focus on maintaining consistency and striving to become the best version of himself. His relationship with Erik ten Hag, which flourished during their successful time at Ajax, was built on mutual trust and work ethic. Ten Hag brought Onana to Manchester United to replace David De Gea as part of the team’s cultural and structural rebuild. However, the reality is that Onana’s future at the club is closely tied to Ten Hag’s success as manager. Interestingly enough, former manchester united player and icon Cristiano Ronaldo made a remarkable comment about the current state of the club during a recent interview. he stressed that Manchester United needs a complete rebuild to regain its competitive edge. He pointed out that, while the club remains one of the best in the world, without substantial changes, it will struggle to compete for major titles like the Premier League and Champions League. Ronaldo emphasized that managers and players must always aim to win, and criticized Erik ten Hag’s suggestion that the team might not have the capacity to challenge for the top honors. He also suggested that the club should seek advice from former players who understand its winning culture, such as Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rio Ferdinand, and Sir Alex Ferguson. Very strong sentimental feelings expressed from the iconic player that cannot be ignored or denied.

I will revisit this pressure cooking issue in the second half of the season. Until then, I continue to support and wish Andre Onana all the best of luck, because he’s going to need every form of breakthrough to come through.

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