Cameroon was being deprived and Andre Onana was being held for as long as possible by a major club, which was small-minded.
Although Rainier Koers is not a permanent employee of Manchester United, the scenario involving Andre Onana shouldn’t have needed to be examined by a performance psychologist.
Onana was able to stay out of the starting lineup for United’s first two games this month as his Cameroonian colleagues got ready for the Africa Cup of Nations. The day after United and Tottenham drew, Cameroon’s first game against Guinea got underway.
Although Onana was at fault, neither of Tottenham’s goals came from blatant goalkeeping blunders. Richarlison nodded from the corner where Onana stood statuesque, having been partially recruited for his sweeping skills.
Richarlison stood up in the goalkeeper’s area, the six-yard box. Onana, though, was so true to his heritage that he could have passed for David de Gea. Onana had to develop, but he shrank for Rodrigo Bentancur’s score fifty seconds into the second half.
Onana would have been struck by the ball had he been more upright. That’s two more goals that the £47.2 million custodian, who joined Inter Milan on a free transfer a year ago, should have been able to stop.
Soon after full time, Onana hurried to Manchester Airport to join a private plane and go almost 5,000 kilometres to Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Three hours prior to kickoff, he arrived in Yamoussoukro and was left off of the squad.
We must all share accountability. The signing is starting to look more and more like a bust because Erik ten Hag is so determined to turn Onana into a success. The insistence that Onana had to stay for an FA Cup match against Wigan, who were currently in 18th place in League One, confused some United employees. Five of the starting six for Spurs’ August victory over United were absent. With Onana, United has created a mountain out of a molehill.
The £4.28 million acquisition from Fenerbahce, Altay Bayindir, has yet to receive a kick, and Tom Heaton, a number three who should be a number two who was targeted by Luton as their number one in the summer, has been treated unfairly. The FA Cup matchup with Wigan served as the perfect prelude to Bayindir’s debut.
With the exception of saving Jordan Larsson’s sudden death penalty, Onana has not kept United in any points. In the Champions League group stage, no player cost them more, and he has blocked almost ten goals that should have been avoided.
It’s not hard to believe that, with a flight to catch, his concentration may have wavered during the match against Tottenham. After being sent home from the World Cup fourteen months prior, Onana spent nine months away from the Cameroon team. Assuming his international career was gone, United signed him.
How that past could hurt Onana versus Tottenham is obvious to even the untrained psychologist. At the DW Stadium, Onana brilliantly stopped Thelo Aasgaard early on, but last week’s crucial matchup was against a team that was eight points ahead of United.
Onana, the only player to start all 30 of United’s games this season, has been given the impression that he is indispensable. It’s small-mindedness from a large organisation. He ought to have reunited with the Cameroon team following the December 30 loss at Nottingham Forest.
Two years ago, Senegal and Egypt faced each other in the AFCON final, and Liverpool bid adieu to two of the best strikers in the world, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. When they were not there, Liverpool won every game except for a draw in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final. That season, they also won both domestic cup competitions, advanced to the Champions League final, and lost the Premier League by a single point.
Midway through championship-winning seasons, Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure were cut go by Chelsea and Manchester City. In both of the seasons that Chelsea advanced to the Champions League final, Drogba was included in the AFCON team of the competition.
Against Wigan, United’s midfield was severely thinned down, but Sofyan Amrabat was already in Africa. Amrabat’s injury kept him out of United’s final two games in December, but he was back in the gym early in January with his teammates from Morocco.
Ten Hag has an unusual perspective on the hierarchy of goalkeepers. He declared last year that if a more stringent selection procedure is necessary, he does not name a number two or number three. Despite having a worse penalty record than Heaton, Jack Butland was benched by United for the FA Cup semifinal and final. Given his track record in shootouts, De Gea deserved more credit as the starting goalie.
When United plays Newport on Sunday week, Onana will be free to fly from Manchester to Cardiff, which is a significantly shorter travel than Cameroon would need to make by the time the AFCON group stage concludes. Newport is ranked 85th out of 92 teams in the Football League.
A performance psychologist could provide guidance Onana chooses to ignore that.
