Matic was right about Onana, but not enough

Andre Onana caused controversy when he exchanged words with Matic.

Man United will travel to France in the early morning of April 11 for the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals. Onana's previous statement, which implied that Manchester United were of a higher class than Lyon, made Matic uncomfortable.

“To say something, you need to have a basis,” Matic said at a press conference ahead of the match against United. “I respect everyone, but to say something like that… you need to prove it. When you are one of the worst goalkeepers in the history of Man United, you have to be careful with what you say."

"If David de Gea, Peter Schmeichel or Edwin van der Sar said that, I would question myself and take my words seriously. But if you (referring to Onana), statistically, are among the worst goalkeepers in Manchester United's history, then you need to show your performance on the pitch before speaking out. We will wait and see," Matic affirmed.

Lyon are currently fifth in Ligue 1, while United are 13th in the Premier League. Matic, who played for United from 2017 to 2022, believes Onana should focus on his own performances before commenting on the level of the two clubs.

Onana later responded to Matic's comments on social network X (Twitter), noting that he had won the FA Cup at Wembley last year, while Matic had failed to win a trophy in five seasons at Old Trafford. The Cameroonian goalkeeper insisted that he meant no disrespect to the other club, but still took a jab at Matic.

“I never disrespected any club,” Onana wrote on his personal page. “We knew it was a difficult game against a strong opponent. We focused on preparing to make the fans proud. At least I lifted a trophy with the greatest club in the world. Some people can’t even lift a trophy (at Manchester United).”

Matic argued with Onana.

In fact, many will argue about who is the worst goalkeeper in Manchester United history. Massimo Taibi, Tomasz Kuszczak and many others have had scandalous times in the Manchester United goal.

Onana's time at United, however, can also be described as controversial. When he was at his best, Onana was the team's saviour. But when he lost focus, the Cameroonian goalkeeper was as bad as Taibi or Kuszczak.

From being lobged from 50 metres in his first friendly for the club, to making consistent mistakes over the years, Onana has never had the consistency of De Gea, Schmeichel or Edwin van der Sar - the people Matic talks about.

However, Onana does not deserve to be considered by Matic as the worst goalkeeper in MU history. Last season, Onana also had the highest save percentage in the Premier League.

If Matic’s point is that Onana is nowhere near the level of United’s top goalkeepers of the past 35 years, then the Lyon midfielder’s statement is entirely acceptable. But Onana is also just the embodiment of the chaos that has occurred at Old Trafford, dating back to Matic’s time at the club.

Admire PSG's 3 masterpieces against Aston Villa. Early morning of April 10, Aston Villa suffered a 1-3 defeat to PSG in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

Source: https://znews.vn/matic-da-dung-ve-onana-nhung-chua-du-post1544795.html