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Andre Onana has been crowned Manchester United’s Player of the Month for March after a series of impressive performances in an otherwise disappointing period for his side.
Leading the way in March ⭐️
You have voted @AndreyOnana as our latest Player of the Month — congratulations, Andre! 👏#MUFC pic.twitter.com/2bWCNmd3x9
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 4, 2024
United played four games last month, resulting in two wins, a draw and a loss. While this does not necessarily seem like a poor run of form, the results mask some very poor performances.
Erik ten Hag’s team began March with an abysmal display at the Etihad against Manchester City. A 3-1 loss flattered United in the end as their local rivals dominated from start to finish. If not for the efforts of Onana the score line could have read something far more embarrassing.
United were able to rally a week later as they hosted Everton at Old Trafford. A far from convincing, but spirited, performance produced a 2-0 win with Onana once again vital to keeping the opposition attack at bay.
An FA Cup quarter-final against Liverpool followed the next week, with a pulsating 4-3 win in the final minutes of extra-time delivering an instant folklore classic win over United’s most bitter rivals. While Onana was largely good in this game, this was probably his weakest performance with the Cameroonian likely to be unhappy with his efforts for a few of Liverpool goals.
March was then finished off with a trip to the Gtech Community Stadium to play Brentford last Saturday.
What followed was one of the worst performances a United team has produced in recent memory, which is really saying something. Though the match inexplicably finished 1-1, Brentford should have won by four or five goals with ease. They hit the woodwork four times and created a number of guilt-edged chances, with Onana’s goal subject to attack after attack.
The 28-year-old goalkeeper was the only United player who could leave the pitch last weekend with his head held high. If not for his heroics, Ten Hag would likely have been on the receiving end of one of his worst results in his two seasons at the helm at United.
The award was, therefore, as justified as it was easy to decide. It also constitutes something of a landmark moment for the Cameroonian goalkeeper; a representation of the turnaround he’s been able to produce in his debut year in England, after a rocky start to life at Old Trafford.
While Onana’s form in the Premier League was never necessarily poor, he did some have questionable moments in the first few months of the season. It was, however, the Champions League where the goalkeeper was undeniably bad, as he produced a series of ‘disasterclasses’ which effectively eliminated United from Europe, as they finished bottom of a group containing Galatasaray and FC Copehagen.
Onana received enormous scrutiny for his mistakes in these European matches. The criticism was so vitriolic at times that United fans were demanding Ten Hag drop his former pupil at Ajax, in favour of Altay Bayindir – signed for £4.3 million from Fenerbahçe in the summer to be the team’s number two.
Ten Hag refused to curtail to this pressure, however, instead being a constant source of support for his number one (technically number 24) and playing him through this drop in form; and it’s a decision which has aged like the finest of wines.
Onana has been excellent since United’s exit from the Champions League. While in March he was his team’s best player by a country mile, he has been amongst the top performers at Old Trafford for over four months. This form is made even more impressive by the revolving door of a defence he has been playing in front of.
Onana is joint-second in the Premier League for clean sheets. He ranks fourth for PSxG-GA (post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed) – essentially how many goals a goalkeeper should have conceded and how many they did, with a positive score meaning they have defender their goal well – with +4.5 (Tottenham Hotspur’s Guillermo Vicario is number one with +6.2). And he has the third best save percentage in the league, despite the overwhelming number of shots United face on a weekly basis.
T🚫P ST🚫P
👏 @AndreyOnana#MUFC || #PL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) March 27, 2024
In short, outside of his European nightmare, Onana has been excellent domestically, despite United’s struggles in and out of possession this season not lending themselves to the Cameroonian’s skillset. If his team mates improve on and off the ball next year, expect Onana to produce even stronger performances along with them.
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