- Erik ten Hag defies demands to drop fallible goalkeeper Andre Onana
- The Dutch manager insists Onana will remain in the Newcastle game
- Manchester United in chaos – they have a slump – It’s all kicking off
Erik ten Haag leapt to Andre Onana’s defense on Friday and insisted Manchester United’s under-fire goalkeeper deserves to be his No.1.
Onana will keep his place against Newcastle at St James’ Park on Saturday night, despite being criticized for all three of United’s goals in Wednesday’s Champions League draw with Galatasaray in Istanbul.
While ten Hoag admits any of his players are 'unbeatable’, he will resist any temptation to ax Onana.
„Players always need confidence,” said den Haag. The best stopper in the league in preventing expected goals after Alisson. So you deserve to play. He has the potential, so we have to work on him to keep it going. We will work with him and support him. The manager, coaches and players are all in favor of him,” he said.
Asked if he had considered dropping Onana in favor of Altai Payndir or Tom Heaton, Den Haag replied: 'It won’t help him. No one is unstoppable, that much is clear. But we are confident that he will help us win trophies.
I have confidence in Tom and Alte, but Andre has a lot of experience in the Champions League with Ajax and last year with Inter Milan.
’Last year he was with the best goalkeeper in Manuel Neuer and Thibaut Courtois, so he’s a great keeper.’
Bayentire was the only player to console Onana after Wednesday’s game, but Den Haag insists the £47.2m signing has not lost faith in his team-mates.
He said 'no’. 'This dressing room is together. Football is a game of mistakes, everyone can make mistakes.’
The United manager pointed to Onana’s excellent performance at Burnley in September, after Leroy Sane scored against Bayern Munich, as evidence of his resilience.
’He is a strong character. He’s a personality and he’ll deal with it,’ said den Haag. 'You have seen how he reacts to a poor performance like in Munich. He excelled at Burnley.
’He knows he’s made some mistakes in the Champions League, but overall he’s done well in the first five months.’
„Całkowity introwertyk. Nieprzejednany specjalista od sieci. Przyjazny fanatyk bekonu. Student ekstremalnych. Miłośnik piwa. Organizator.”