Andre Onana’s former teammate blames Manchester United defender for making him look ‘terrible’

Andre Onana has endured a difficult first season at Manchester United (Picture: Getty)

Andre Onana’s former teammate Ryan Babel has blamed a Manchester United defender for making the goalkeeper look ‘terrible’.

Onana has endured a difficult first season at Old Trafford but Babel, who played with the Cameroonian at Ajax, believes United’s defence is partly to blame.

United have won less than half of their league games this season, sitting 13 points outside the Champions League places and 26 adrift of leaders Arsenal with four games remaining.

Onana has attracted criticism for some high-profile mistakes and Babel insists his former teammate has ‘not been himself’ since arriving at United.

But the ex-Netherlands star believes Onana has not been helped by a dysfunctional Manchester United defence and says Harry Maguire often ‘puts him in trouble’.

‘Andre Onana is a great goalkeeper, I played with him at Ajax and he went on and continued to show what he’s capable of at Inter,’ Babel told Ladbrokes.

‘And then he signed for Man United and for some reason it hasn’t worked out. That’s concerning. It’s been so long that these supporters have had to suffer, they want immediate impact and results, especially from new signings.

Ryan Babel played with Onana at Ajax (Picture: Getty)

‘I know the spotlight is on Onana a lot in this United team, but the mistakes we’ve seen are as a result of a combination of things.

‘Onana, at Ajax, had a back four in front of him who were all incredible with the ball at their feet.

‘Respectfully, if Onana is then playing with Harry Maguire, then that immediately puts Onana in trouble, because he’s playing with defenders who aren’t opening themselves up, or making the right runs, so that Onana has options to play, and that puts him in trouble.

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‘At Ajax, Onana had the privilege of four great defenders, and Frenkie de Jong in front of them. Onana is a great goalkeeper, but they made him look even better.

‘If a set of players don’t work well together, it makes some of those players in particular look terrible. In this case, that’s what Onana has experienced.

‘Absolutely, though, some mistakes have been completely his fault; sometimes you question his positioning, or you just wonder what he’s doing.

‘He’s not been himself in my opinion, but from what I know of him, and what I’ve seen, he’s an incredibly talented goalkeeper, and I hope that more people can see that next season for Manchester United.’

Onana conceded a penalty in United’s disappointing 1-1 draw with Burnley at the weekend, meaning Erik ten Hag’s side have now won just one of their last six games.

The Red Devils have little to play for in the Premier League but face Manchester City in the FA Cup final one week after the final day.

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