Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag has once again defended Andre Onana, claiming he is the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League "statistically".
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| Man Utd goalkeeper Andre Onana. (Source: Getty Images) |
Andre Onana joined Man Utd from Inter Milan last summer for a transfer fee of £47.2 million. The Cameroon international has been inconsistent in his form, playing well in some games but also making a lot of mistakes.
Most recently, Onana made two mistakes in Man Utd's 3-3 draw at Galatasaray in the Champions League group stage.
Man Utd twice led the home team by two goals, but Onana's mistakes caused the "Red Devils" to leave with one point and face a great risk of being eliminated from the European Cup after the group stage.
After the match, former Man Utd legend Paul Scholes spoke out, saying that the Manchester team's goalkeeper made serious mistakes due to poor positioning.
However, coach Ten Hag did not criticize Onana, instead the Man Utd coach praised Ziyech's "extraordinary" dead ball handling skills, who scored two goals from free kicks against Man Utd.
The Dutch tactician continued to defend Onana in his press conference ahead of the Newcastle game. Ten Hag said the Man Utd goalkeeper had played "exceptionally well" and was the second best goalkeeper in the Premier League.
Asked whether the media and fans are scrutinizing Onana too much, coach Ten Hag smiled and replied: "If you analyze carefully, you will see that he is the second best goalkeeper in the Premier League based on statistics. Accordingly, his expected goals prevented is the second best in the Premier League."
"Onana is playing well, but also know that, in the Champions League he made some mistakes. Overall, if you look at the first period with the new team, Onana is adapting well."
Asked how Onana's confidence was after the mistakes, coach Ten Hag replied: "You saw how he reacted to a bad performance, like he did after the Bayern Munich game. The game against Burnley after that, he played excellently."
"Onana is a strong person, he has character and will deal with mistakes. According to FBref , taking the expected goals conceded minus the actual goals conceded, he is second with Liverpool's Alisson, he has saved three-quarters of the goals he actually conceded."
Luton Town's Thomas Kaminski is top of the pile, having saved four of the five goals conceded. By Opta's definition, Onana has yet to commit a foul leading to a goal in the Premier League, something Kaminski and Alisson have both done.
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