Andre Onana is failing to fulfil his own Manchester United demand

When Andre Onana screamed at Harry Maguire for an error in Manchester United’s pre-season game against Borussia Dortmund in Nevada, it looked like Erik ten Hag had brought in a goalkeeper cut from his own mentality cloth.

The United manager’s decision to allow stalwart David de Gea to leave in the summer following a season of mistakes appeared to show his ruthlessness in his desire to get the club back to the top. The manner of De Gea’s exit is a different discussion but Ten Hag was praised for following the paths trodden by Pep Guardiola with Joe Hart and Jurgen Klopp with Loris Karius.

De Gea is still a free agent and the few fans wondering whether his exit was beneficial for either him or the club cannot be blamed. Onana’s list of mistakes is already almost as long as De Gea’s last season and we are only in October.

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Perhaps he can be forgiven for being caught out in the pre-season clash with Lens when he was lobbed from the halfway line given the high line he plays at. But he was undoubtedly lucky not to concede a last-gasp penalty in the opening night win over Wolves.

His howler against Bayern Munich left him visibly forlorn and in Tuesday’s defeat to Galatasaray, he almost dropped a cross onto the boot of an attacker in the second half. In an adage to modern-day football, Onana was not brought in for his shot-stopping abilities.

Onana's handling, which has already cost United at times, is seen as secondary to his ball distribution abilities. In his early outings, supporters have seen his pinpoint accuracy with his kicking and passing. But now, even that element of his game has seemingly