Dwight Yorke has defended Andre Onana after he put up a strong showing during Manchester United’s 3-0 win over West Ham United at Old Trafford on Sunday.
In the end, it was a comfortable three points for Erik ten Hag and his players, but they still had to get through a small tricky period at the start of the game.
When the game was goalless, and just after Rasmus Hojlund had opened the scoring for Manchester United, their opponents were causing issues from corners.
That forced Andre Onana to make some crucial saves and ensure his team didn’t concede, before the young guns did the rest of the job.
Dwight Yorke spoke about how the 2023 Champions League finalist has been ‘criticised’ during his time at Old Trafford, but on this occasion, he did ‘fantastically well’, as he told Premier League Productions (04/02/24 at 2:55 pm).
Look, the verbal hits that have been coming the way of the £47 million signing have been justified because he did cost Manchester United a place in the Champions League.
But it’s all about how you recover and you are only as good as your last game, which according to Dwight Yorke, got a thumbs up from him.
Andre Onana saves
“He has been criticised at times,” said Yorke. “But you expect your goalkeeper to make important saves in the crucial time of the game as well.
“I think this is a great reflex save. He is showing a good and strong left hand. He will be really pleased with that because Man United tend to concede quite a lot of goals from set-pieces and this was a possible one, but the goalkeeper did fantastically well.”
Andre Onana is a top keeper
Look, he can’t be protected or immune from criticism after what he produced in the Champions League this season.
But, Manchester United need to be patient with the Cameroon star because he is a top, top player and will prove it in years to come.
The man he replaced in between the sticks was David de Gea. When he first joined the club, it wasn’t an easy ride for him either.
But he came through all of that and then proceeded to don the gloves for close to a decade, before leaving on a free in the summer.
Man United may not see the absolute best of Onana for another 12 months, and when he also has a settled backline in front of him, other than one that is changing by the week.
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