FILE - Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana was been slammed for his performance against Olympique Lyon.
Image: Ibrahim Ezzat / NurPhoto via AFP
Andre Onana faces a potentially make-or-break match for his Manchester United career against Lyon in the Europa League on Thursday as the English giants battle to keep their season alive.
The Cameroon international goalkeeper made himself the main talking point ahead of the first leg of the quarter-final in France, which ended in a 2-2 draw, boldly claiming United were "way better" than their opponents.
That prompted a salty reply from former United midfielder Nemanja Matic, now with Lyon, who labelled him "one of the worst goalkeepers in Manchester United's history".
Onana was given a hostile reception by fans in France and his words came back to haunt him when he was at fault for both of the goals United conceded.
United manager Ruben Amorim dropped him for Sunday's trip to Newcastle, bringing in back-up goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, but the game ended in a 4-1 defeat, with the Turkey international at fault for the fourth goal.
Amorim now has a potentially season-defining decision to make - does he bring Onana back in or pick Bayindir again?
The stakes are high. Defeat at Old Trafford would effectively end United's season, with nothing left to play for in the Premier League.
Victory would keep them on track to win the Europa League, which would be a passport into the lucrative Champions League for next season.
United, with Erik ten Hag then at the helm, paid around £47 million ($62 million) to sign Onana from Inter Milan in 2023 as a replacement for David de Gea.
Ten Hag, who had previously worked with the goalkeeper at Ajax, talked up his ball-playing skills.
The 29-year-old has shown flashes of brilliance with his glove work during his time at Old Trafford and has occasionally demonstrated his ability with the ball at his feet.
But he has lacked consistency and has developed an unwanted reputation as a calamity 'keeper.
According to Opta figures from before the latest round of matches, since the start of last season no Premier League goalkeeper had made more errors leading to goals in all competitions than Onana (eight).
To compound matters, former Spain international De Gea, who was allowed to leave on a free transfer, is now starring for Italian club Fiorentina.
Amorim defended Onana after last week's draw at Lyon and explained his decision to leave him out at Newcastle.
"Sometimes you have to push the player to play again, sometimes you have to let them disconnect a little bit, but (on Monday) he is going to be in training to prepare for the next one," he told Sky Sports. "I felt it was a good time for Andre to disconnect."
He added: "So it was a normal situation. You have to manage everything and sometimes people just look at the physical aspect, but the mental aspect is really, really important."
The picture with Onana is nuanced.
On the one hand, he has the worst minutes-per-goal-conceded ratio of any United goalkeeper with 10 or more Premier League appearances.
But Opta figures last week showed that since the start of the 2023/24 Premier League season, only Everton's Jordan Pickford (8.7) had prevented more goals than Onana's 7.5, based on the sports analytics company's expected goals model.
What is beyond doubt is the importance of Thursday's match at Old Trafford.
United are an embarrassing 14th in the Premier League with just six matches left and could conceivably end up in 17th spot, just above the relegation places.
That would be their lowest finish since they were relegated from the top division in the 1973/74 season.
Amorim still has a chance to end United's turbulent campaign with a European trophy, which could prove transformative as he rebuilds.
But whether Onana remains central to his plans both in the short term and the long term remains to be seen.
AFP