Manchester United’s poor start to the season eventually led to Erik ten Hag’s sacking with Ruud van Nistelrooy taking over on an interim basis.
The former Ajax coach’s reign was characterised by a lack of a clear style of play while his selection calls grew more and more ludicrous as time went on.
His talent identification was also deemed not good enough for the club with plenty of his signings set to be moved on once new manager Ruben Amorim joins the fray.
But one signing who has come good is Andre Onana with Ten Hag’s huge call to axe David de Gea and bring in the Cameroonian bearing fruit in the end.
Onana on EtH
Ten Hag wanted a goalkeeper who was comfortable with the ball and could calmly play out from the back and Onana has certainly brought that quality to the club.
It was a rough few months initially for the former Inter Milan man but he eventually coped with the added pressure and this season, he has been one of the rare shining lights in what has been a disappointing campaign thus far.
Having been brought to the club by Ten Hag, Onana was obviously grateful to his former boss but felt the results necessitated a change in the dugout.
“When I heard he was leaving I felt bad, it’s not always easy for players to understand when a manager is leaving. But at the end of the day, the club have to make a decision and we have to follow,” he said on the eve of United’s Europa League game against PAOK.
“I worked with him, he’s a good manager, I’ve got a very good relationship with him. Why things didn’t work here? We didn’t win enough games, it’s simple.
“At high level it’s not easy and sometimes you have to pay the price. Unfortunately it was him. The players gave everything, we worked hard, tried our best but it just didn’t work.”
While quite a few players will be playing for their United careers once Amorim arrives, Onana is expected to thrive as the Portuguese also prefers a ball-playing goalkeeper, someone who can radiate calmness under pressure.
Onana on Amorim
And as per the Cameroon international, plenty of United stars have the quality to adapt to Amorim’s demands, including a change is tactics from a back four to a back three.
In fact, the United No 1 watched Sporting Lisbon’s magnificent come-from-behind win against Manchester City and congratulated the incoming manager for the fine victory.
“I did watch it. Great victory for them, by the way. Different system, but my teammates are all pragmatic, everyone here is capable of playing in each system, I don’t think it will be an issue for us. We have big players. They will step up.”
For now, United must focus on getting their Europa League campaign back on track after three disappointing draws in the previous games.
Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
