Everton hero Alan Stubbs has warned Amadou Onana ‘to be careful’ with his tackling after facing Manchester United in the FA Cup. He also urged the Belgian to improve in the area.
Onana enjoyed his 18th appearance for the Toffees since moving to Goodison Park in their 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford on Friday. Frank Lampard started the 21-year-old for a 16th time since signing the midfielder. He joined from Ligue 1 side LOSC Lille for £33m during August.
Lampard quickly established Onana as one of his favoured options in the engine room. The four-cap international also often impressed before the World Cup break, too. He produced a host of vital interceptions and tidy touches. Yet bookings are not always all that far away.
Onana has shown he can produce important tackles at full stretch and walk the disciplinary tightrope well. But during his 18 appearances, the £100k-a-week Belgian has now received six yellow cards. He earned his latest caution in the 88th minute at Old Trafford this Friday.
Lampard also had to face Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League without Onana on Tuesday. The Toffees went on to lose 4-1 without the midfielder, who had received a fifth yellow in 16 Premier League outings after 63 minutes in their 1-1 draw at Manchester City.
Stubbs urges Onana to improve after Everton lost at Manchester United
Onana managed to ignore his caution to make some important tackles at Manchester City. He also used his physicality well at Manchester United in the FA Cup to roll Casemiro in the build-up to Conor Coady’s goal. But he caught referee Darren England’s attention later on.
England issued Onana a yellow card after catching Lisandro Martinez with a late challenge. The Belgian caught the Argentina centre-back on the top of his boot around 25 yards from Jordan Pickford’s net. Marcus Rashford would sting the resulting free-kick to earn a corner.
Onana did not impress former Everton captain Stubbs with his yellow card at Manchester United in the FA Cup, though. The ex-Blues defender appreciates the midfielder’s effort to help the Toffees. But he wants Onana to learn from his mistakes and show improvement.
“That’s not a great tackle,” Stubbs said on BBC Radio Merseyside. “He’s slid in, caught him on the end of his foot and Martinez’s studs are stuck in the ground.
“Onana has got to improve because he makes a lot of lunges and that gets him a lot of yellow cards – and if he gets it wrong, reds. You can’t fault his effort but he needs to be careful.”
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