- \n
- Onana endured a sticky start to life as Man Utd\u2019s number one goalkeeper<\/li>\n
- The 27-year-old has hit top form in recent weeks<\/li>\n
- No other Premier League goalkeeper can match Onana\u2019s advanced shot-stopping statistics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Andre Onana is not the type of character to wilt when circumstances go against him.<\/strong><\/p>\n
While at Ajax in 2021, Onana mistakenly popped a diuretic pill prescribed to his wife when he\u2019d been fumbling around for some paracetamol. He was served with a nine-month doping ban. \u201cIt was incredible,\u201d he recalled, \u201c40mg can destroy a career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forced to watch on from the sidelines while wild accusations were flung his way, Onana held firm and only improved upon his return. The 27-year-old reached last year\u2019s Champions League final with Inter before becoming the most expensive goalkeeper in\u00a0Manchester United\u2018s history in the summer. \u201cI\u2019ve come back from it,\u201d he said of his ban, \u201cbut if it happened to someone less strong mentally it would be very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Onana\u2019s mental fortitude was firmly required during a testing opening few months at Old Trafford. A gaggle of goalkeeping errors, with his hands and vaunted feet, culminated in Onana letting Mathias Jensen\u2019s tame shot squirm under his limp wrist as United fell behind at home to Brentford in October.<\/p>\n
United had lost six of their previous nine matches and were booed off at half-time. But the fate of the team and their goalkeeper seemed to shift during that second half. Onana pulled off a flurry of crucial saves to keep United in the contest before Scott McTominay\u2019s stoppage-time brace won the match. Onana beat some of his outfield teammates to engulf the Scot in celebration of his second goal.<\/p>\n
While the subsequent six weeks haven\u2019t been faultless \u2013 United only won their first match of the season by more than a single goal\u00a0against Everton\u00a0\u2013 Onana\u2019s contribution between the posts has been exemplary.<\/p>\n
![\"Andre](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/01hgb2wcf688ek83ea0v.jpg\" "\\"Andre")
<\/figure>\nAndre Onana has been in the firing line for much of his brief Manchester United career \/ James Gill \u2013 Danehouse\/GettyImages<\/p>\n
In the Cameroon international\u2019s next appearance at Old Trafford after the Brentford victory, Onana was at the epicentre of more late drama to beat away a stoppage-time penalty from FC Copenhagen\u2019s Jordan Larsson, thereby earning United\u2019s first Champions League win of the season.<\/p>\n
When considering Premier League matches, United\u2019s custodian has saved between eight and nine goals more than the average goalkeeper would be expected to, based on the quality and quantity of shots flying his way (per\u00a0StatsBomb<\/em>). That\u2019s more than any other goalkeeper in England\u2019s top flight.<\/p>\n
StatsBomb<\/em>\u00a0can calculate how many goals a keeper would be expected to concede by measuring a raft of attributes about each shot once it has been struck, such as the trajectory and speed of the strike, how close it is to the corners, which part of the body was used to make the attempt.<\/p>\n
By comparing all of this information to thousands of previous attempts (where the outcome \u2013 did it result in a goal \u2013 is known), every shot is assigned a numerical value between zero and one to represent how likely it would be to beat an average goalkeeper. A point-blank strike heading towards the top corner would be closer to one than a long-range pea-roller down the middle.<\/p>\n
Adding up all of these values for every effort a keeper faces provides an estimate of how many goals the average shot-stopper would ship. When the numbers are crunched, Onana comes out on top in the\u00a0Premier League.<\/p>\n
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Andr\u00e9 Onana, Manchester United 2023\/24<\/p>\n
Onana has saved +8.6 goals above expected based on the shots he\u2019s faced this season \u2013 more than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League pic.twitter.com\/Pm4AQeejo1<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 StatsBomb (@StatsBomb) November 28, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Onana arrived at United with most of his reputation built around what he could do with the ball at his feet. In UEFA\u2019s technical report of last year\u2019s Champions League final, Onana was lauded as \u201cless a sweeper-keeper than a holding midfielder\u201d. However, Inter\u2019s run to that European showpiece was underpinned by Onana\u2019s shot-stopping.<\/p>\n
Across Inter\u2019s 12 matches ahead of the final, Onana kept eight clean sheets, conceding just nine times from shots that would have been expected to produce 16 goals (per\u00a0StatsBomb<\/em><\/a>). No other keeper prevented more goals in the competition.<\/p>\n
Onana\u2019s return to that impressive form has not gone unnoticed by Ten Hag. \u201cHe has been playing very well for a number of matches,\u201d Onana\u2019s former Ajax manager smiled after United\u2019s 3-0 victory over Everton on Sunday. \u201cHe has a lot of charisma, gives the defence a lot of rest, [made] a few great saves\u2026 Yes, Onana had an excellent match.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thanks in no small part to Onana\u2019s steely resolve, Ten Hag has been able to say that last throwaway line far more often.<\/p>\n