Former Man Utd goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel insists the singling out of Andre Onana for criticism this season has been “very, very wrong”.
The Red Devils are having a nightmare campaign with Ruben Amorim’s side now guaranteed to go down as the worst Man Utd side to play in the Premier League, even if they win their final five matches.
One glimmer of hope they have is in the Europa League with Man Utd beating Lyon to move into the semi-finals against Athletic Bilbao.
If Man Utd win the competition then they will qualify for next season’s Champions League, which would be a game-changer in terms of players they could attract in the summer and their transfer budget.
One player they are likely to look to replace is Onana with rumours they will accept bids of around £20m for the Cameroon international.
Onana was recently pulled out of the firing line after making two mistakes in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Lyon, leading to intense criticism.
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After being left out of their squad for a 4-1 defeat to Newcastle at St James’ Park, Onana was back in for their second leg against Lyon a few days later.
When asked for his view on Onana’s poor form, Schmeichel told talkSPORT: “Just look where Manchester United are in the Premier League. The players are not having the greatest time.
“I try to explain this to people, why is it different playing for Manchester United as opposed to any other club?
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“I showed this to my wife the other day. We have a broadsheet newspaper in Denmark that doesn’t have a sports section, but they still carry Manchester United’s results and not just a little line but in an article.
“If you’re any other club, or most other clubs, you don’t have that. You don’t have all the fringe, non-sporting papers reporting on your games and that is where the pressure is.
“Every single thing you do in a game of football will be reported everywhere in the world. For instance, as a goalkeeper, if you make a mistake, everybody in the world will be talking about that mistake.
“If you make a mistake for so many other clubs in the Premier League, they might just be in the newspaper the next day. But you’re not going to talk about it tomorrow or the day after.
“That is where the mental toughness of being a Manchester United player comes in.
“It’s been a difficult year, it’s been a difficult year for everyone, so singling out anyone, I think that would be very, very wrong.”
