“I saw a bit of myself" - Rio Ferdinand sympathizes with Manchester United star after error led to Brentford goal in 2-1 win
Rio Ferdinand has defended Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana after his latest blunder in the 2-1 Premier League win against Brentford on Saturday (October 7).
Onana has endured a shaky start to his Red Devils career, making several errors. His latest came in the last-gasp 2-1 win against the Bees at the weekend. The Cameroonian shot-stopper should have done better when trying to save Mathias Jensen's 26th-minute opener. However, Scott McTominay spared his blushes with a dramatic double in stoppage time (90+3', 90+7').
Onana ran the length of the pitch to celebrate with his Manchester United teammates. Ferdinand compared his actions to how he once thanked David Beckham for his famous goal that secured England's World Cup qualification following a mistake of his own, telling his FIVE podcast (via United In Focus):
“I saw a bit of myself. I didn’t play well when England drew against Greece when David Beckham scored that free-kick (to famously secure World Cup 2002 qualification)."
He added:
“I remember celebrating with Becks and thanking him. I saw a bit of that in Onana. When you make a mistake … I could sense the relief that he had."
Ferdinand admitted that Onana should have done better when trying to deny Jensen. He alluded to some advice given to the Cameroonian by Manchester United icon Peter Schmeichel:
“He should have made the save. In training, he probably makes that save every day. I saw a quote from Peter Schmeichel, who spoke to him and told him not to let (the pressure of) Man Utd get to you."
Onana has taken on the task of replacing one of the Red Devils' longest-serving players, David de Gea. The Spanish goalkeeper was a massive hit at Old Trafford, keeping 190 clean sheets in 545 games across competitions. He won the club's Player of the Year award a joint-record four times.
The former Inter Milan goalkeeper hasn't made the best of starts to his United career, though. He hasa kept just three clean sheets in 11 games across competitions, a stark contrast to the 19 he kept in 41 games for Inter last season.
Chris Sutton reckons Manchester United were wrong to replace David de Gea with Andre Onana
Onana is just 11 games into his Manchester United career, but Premier League legend Chris Sutton has already made his mind up over the Cameroonian. He says that the Red Devils shouldn't have replaced De Gea with the former Ajax goalkeeper (via The Daily Mail):
"De Gea was a far better goalkeeper than Onana, but if Onana just does his job - and it wasn't a difficult save to make - then there's not an issue."
Sutton continued by adding Onana is bringing increased pressure on the team and doesn't think he's good enough for Erik ten Hag's side:
"I think he is bringing increased pressure on the whole team, and the truth is he is not good enough for Manchester United, and they have made a major rick (mistake) getting him in."
The Red Devils paid Inter £43 million to sign Onana in the summer. The 27-year-old knows Ten Hag well from his time playing under him in the Eredivisie for Ajax.