Manchester United‘s defending is indefensible and that is squarely down to the manager, rather than a goalkeeper who has almost single-handedly left the team on the brink of Champions League elimination.
Life is tough right now for André Onana, the £47.2 million summer replacement for David de Gea as United’s No. 1. The basic errors that led to two goals for Galatasaray‘s Hakim Ziyech from direct free kicks during Wednesday’s 3-3 draw in Istanbul were just the latest to cost United dear.
The Cameroon international’s stoppage-time penalty save from FC Copenhagen‘s Jordan Larsson on matchday four, which earned United their only victory in Group A, was supposed to be a moment of redemption, coming after another mistake-ridden performance in the 4-3 defeat away to Bayern Munich in the opening game. But Onana is now back to square one after his nightmare against Galatasaray.
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United manager Erik ten Hag defended his goalkeeper after the game, delivering the usual comments about a team “winning together and losing together,” but they were hollow words. If anything, the reason United have been so poor in the Champions League this season, and often in domestic fixtures too, is because they don’t play “together” like a team.
Galatasaray’s first goal was the perfect example of how dysfunctional Ten Hag’s team is right now. United had overloaded players forward in attack, with Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay joining Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Rasmus Højlund in a raid on the Galatasaray penalty area. When the attack broke down, Fernandes sprinted from one end of the pitch to the other before fouling Mauro Icardi on the edge of the United 18-yard box, conceding a free kick from which Ziyech scored past the hapless Onana.
Having given away the free-kick, Fernandes turned round and shouted his displeasure at McTominay, who had failed to run back and had left the defence exposed. If United had been more disciplined, the counter-attack could have been snuffed out and the free kick never conceded.
