GOALKEEPERS ARE often regarded as a little different, more out there than the average footballer.
More than any other player, they can make or break a team in any given game.
Consequently, slagging them off is sometimes a bad idea.
Before England’s crucial 1974 World Cup qualifier with Poland at Wembley, legendary manager and then-ITV pundit Brian Clough described the visitors’ number one as “a circus clown in gloves”.
Jan Tomaszewski responded with a brilliant individual performance, as England could only draw 1-1 and suffered the humiliation of not qualifying for the tournament they had won eight years previously.
The man dubbed a clown later starred for Poland at the World Cup, helping them achieve an impressive third-place finish before eventually turning himself into a controversial, Clough-esque pundit in his native land with a penchant for outrageous quips.
Man United fans will have been hoping for a Tomaszewski-like riposte from André Onana on Thursday night, after Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic labelled him “one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United’s history”.
Instead, the goalkeeper wilted amid the pressure of Man United’s biggest game of the season so far and unenviable comparisons to the likes of Massimo Taibi.
The 29-year-old was at fault for both Lyon’s goals and was particularly poor for the opener, as he somehow let Thiago Almada’s first-half free-kick bounce past him.
He should have been better for the French side’s 95th-minute equaliser, too, as he parried Georges Mikautadze’s straight into the path of Rayan Cherki, who made no mistake with a clinical finish.
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Really, though, in this scenario, Onana is more akin to Clough as opposed to Tomaszewski.
It was the Cameroon international who initiated the war of words between the two parties, saying that playing the side who sit fifth in Ligue 1 was “not going to be easy, but I think we are way better than them”.
Giving the opposition pre-match motivation with a stinging criticism is seldom a good idea in football. The comments were more akin to trolling pre-match fight talk in sports like boxing and MMA.
And while United will be confident they can progress by winning the second leg at Old Trafford after Thursday’s 2-2 draw, the teams looked fairly evenly matched for much of the encounter at the Groupama Stadium, thereby exposing Onana’s provocative comments as misguided.
A draw was probably a fair result in the end, with both sides missing decent chances and neither especially dominant.
Ruben Amorim defended Onana in the post-match interview on TNT Sports afterwards and insisted he would stick by the goalkeeper for the remainder of the season.
But privately, the Portuguese coach will know United would have one foot in the semi-final now were it not for their stopper’s unfortunate mistakes.
Perhaps he was affected by Matic’s harsh pre-match retort.
It's poor anticipation from Andre Onana as Lyon take an early lead through Thiago Almada 🎯
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 10, 2025
But it would be an exaggeration to call Onana’s performance out of character.
For the past two seasons since signing for United, the goalkeeper, for all his obvious talent, has been largely unconvincing.
Eight of his errors have led to goals this season — that’s more than any other Premier League player in his position.
And yet, Onana is not a bad goalkeeper. You don’t reach his level and get signed by one of the biggest clubs in the world for €50 million if that is the case.
He was a key player in his time at Ajax and Inter, starring for the latter on their run to the Champions League final in 2023.
But as with so many highly rated players who make big-money moves to United these days, he has struggled under the weight of expectation at Old Trafford and looked a shadow of the player he once was.
There have been so many setbacks and blows to his confidence that his position is starting to look untenable.
This week, speaking on Sky Sports, Man United legend Gary Neville listed Rasmus Holjund, Joshua Zirkzee, Diogo Dalot, Patrick Dorgu and Alejandro Garnacho as five players who are not “good enough” to be accommodated in Amorim’s system.
After tonight, you can probably add Onana to the list of players who need to be moved on.
With a club of United’s ambitions, it’s hard to imagine a goalkeeper with questionable temperament on the big occasions surviving as the number-one choice for a lengthy period.
His errors have cost the Red Devils in big games in the past, and they will surely do so again if the issue is not rectified.
Relatively early in Jurgen Klopp’s reign as Liverpool manager, two Loris Karius errors proved costly in their 2018 Champions League final 3-1 loss to Real Madrid.
That summer, Liverpool broke the world transfer fee record for a goalkeeper and signed Alisson for an initial fee of €62.5 million, potentially rising to €72 million. A year later, they won the Champions League.
United and Amorim need to show similar ruthlessness during the upcoming off-season.
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André Onana's words could come back to haunt Man United
GOALKEEPERS ARE often regarded as a little different, more out there than the average footballer.
More than any other player, they can make or break a team in any given game.
Consequently, slagging them off is sometimes a bad idea.
Before England’s crucial 1974 World Cup qualifier with Poland at Wembley, legendary manager and then-ITV pundit Brian Clough described the visitors’ number one as “a circus clown in gloves”.
Jan Tomaszewski responded with a brilliant individual performance, as England could only draw 1-1 and suffered the humiliation of not qualifying for the tournament they had won eight years previously.
The man dubbed a clown later starred for Poland at the World Cup, helping them achieve an impressive third-place finish before eventually turning himself into a controversial, Clough-esque pundit in his native land with a penchant for outrageous quips.
Man United fans will have been hoping for a Tomaszewski-like riposte from André Onana on Thursday night, after Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic labelled him “one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United’s history”.
Instead, the goalkeeper wilted amid the pressure of Man United’s biggest game of the season so far and unenviable comparisons to the likes of Massimo Taibi.
The 29-year-old was at fault for both Lyon’s goals and was particularly poor for the opener, as he somehow let Thiago Almada’s first-half free-kick bounce past him.
He should have been better for the French side’s 95th-minute equaliser, too, as he parried Georges Mikautadze’s straight into the path of Rayan Cherki, who made no mistake with a clinical finish.
Really, though, in this scenario, Onana is more akin to Clough as opposed to Tomaszewski.
It was the Cameroon international who initiated the war of words between the two parties, saying that playing the side who sit fifth in Ligue 1 was “not going to be easy, but I think we are way better than them”.
Giving the opposition pre-match motivation with a stinging criticism is seldom a good idea in football. The comments were more akin to trolling pre-match fight talk in sports like boxing and MMA.
And while United will be confident they can progress by winning the second leg at Old Trafford after Thursday’s 2-2 draw, the teams looked fairly evenly matched for much of the encounter at the Groupama Stadium, thereby exposing Onana’s provocative comments as misguided.
A draw was probably a fair result in the end, with both sides missing decent chances and neither especially dominant.
Ruben Amorim defended Onana in the post-match interview on TNT Sports afterwards and insisted he would stick by the goalkeeper for the remainder of the season.
But privately, the Portuguese coach will know United would have one foot in the semi-final now were it not for their stopper’s unfortunate mistakes.
Perhaps he was affected by Matic’s harsh pre-match retort.
But it would be an exaggeration to call Onana’s performance out of character.
For the past two seasons since signing for United, the goalkeeper, for all his obvious talent, has been largely unconvincing.
Eight of his errors have led to goals this season — that’s more than any other Premier League player in his position.
And yet, Onana is not a bad goalkeeper. You don’t reach his level and get signed by one of the biggest clubs in the world for €50 million if that is the case.
He was a key player in his time at Ajax and Inter, starring for the latter on their run to the Champions League final in 2023.
But as with so many highly rated players who make big-money moves to United these days, he has struggled under the weight of expectation at Old Trafford and looked a shadow of the player he once was.
There have been so many setbacks and blows to his confidence that his position is starting to look untenable.
This week, speaking on Sky Sports, Man United legend Gary Neville listed Rasmus Holjund, Joshua Zirkzee, Diogo Dalot, Patrick Dorgu and Alejandro Garnacho as five players who are not “good enough” to be accommodated in Amorim’s system.
After tonight, you can probably add Onana to the list of players who need to be moved on.
With a club of United’s ambitions, it’s hard to imagine a goalkeeper with questionable temperament on the big occasions surviving as the number-one choice for a lengthy period.
His errors have cost the Red Devils in big games in the past, and they will surely do so again if the issue is not rectified.
Relatively early in Jurgen Klopp’s reign as Liverpool manager, two Loris Karius errors proved costly in their 2018 Champions League final 3-1 loss to Real Madrid.
That summer, Liverpool broke the world transfer fee record for a goalkeeper and signed Alisson for an initial fee of €62.5 million, potentially rising to €72 million. A year later, they won the Champions League.
United and Amorim need to show similar ruthlessness during the upcoming off-season.
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Andre Onana Europa League Soccer talking point Lyon team:Manchester united (Football 42)