1 week Ago By [email protected] (George Smith)
Football matches are determined by what happens inside both boxes at either end of the field. Unfortunately for Manchester United , their chief goalkeeper and chief striker are continuing to let them down in their respective habitats. Andre Onana was once again at the centre of another catastrophe at the Groupama Stadium on Thursday night, dropping two clangers as United drew 2-2 with Lyon in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final.
After it looked as though goals from Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee were going to get him out of jail for his first half error, Onana committed his second howler of the evening with virtually the last kick of the game. He spilled Georges Mikautadze's shot and Rayan Cherki gobbled up the rebound. It was an unforgivable error and countless United fans will be campaigning for him to be axed from the starting XI against Newcastle United at St James' Park on Sunday afternoon.
United swooped for Onana in July 2023, identifying him as their top target to succeed David de Gea, who had occupied the gloves at Old Trafford for more than a decade. Onana was brought in from Inter Milan for his best-in-class distribution. In truth, United have seen little of Onana's expertise in possession.
He has rarely produced the midfield-splitting passes that left United supporters drooling when he started the Champions League final for Inter Milan against Manchester City less than two months before his arrival at Old Trafford . Onana, who was destined to be at the centre of attention for the wrong reasons after sparking a war of words with Lyon midfielder Nemanja Matic in the pre-match build-up, has also failed to protect his goal as well as he should have. No Premier League goalkeeper has committed more errors (eight) leading to goals across all competitions since the start of last season.
He experienced a forgettable Champions League campaign last season, playing a direct role in United's premature exit from the competition, and was rarely convincing in the Premier League. His blunders against Lyon just about summed up his Old Trafford career. It is becoming hard to stick up for Andre Onana.
(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images.) At the other end of the pitch, Rasmus Hojlund continues to flop. He has now scored just one goal in his last 27 games and that is simply unacceptable for a player donning the No.
9 shirt on his back and the United badge on his front. United took a reckless gamble on the Danish international in August 2023, paying Atalanta £64million up front for a striker that had scored just ten goals in 34 appearances in Italy. The fee could still rise to £72m.
The Dane has scored just 24 goals in 85 games for United and he should have reached a quarter of a century in Lyon after Patrick Dorgu cut the ball back for him in the first half to create an enterprising opening for him to score just his second goal this calendar year. Hojlund fluffed his lines and the chance was gone. On that evidence, it was hardly surprising Diogo Dalot chose to ignore him in a similar scenario in San Sebastian five weeks earlier.
Hojlund is regularly needing points from Ruben Amorim and his teammates on where to position himself. There was one particular instance in the first half on Thursday night where Bruno Fernandes dummied the ball, anticipating Hojlund was behind him to strike it, but he wasn't. Fernandes' reaction was telling.
Alongside Onana, who was signed for around £47m, and Hojlund, Mason Mount also arrived at Old Trafford in a big-money deal in the summer of 2023. Despite having just one year left on his Chelsea contract, United stumped up an initial fee of £55m to extract him from Stamford Bridge. Mason Mount's Manchester United career is still yet to get off the ground.
(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images.) Approaching the end of his second season at United, Mount's cameo appearance against Lyon took his appearance tally to 36. Manuel Ugarte, who joined the club just over a year later, also made his 36th appearance for the Reds against the Ligue 1 side.
Of course, Mount did not ask for the rotten luck he has had on the injury front since arriving at Old Trafford, and it has been cruel. However, when you consider he could still end up costing United £60m, it is another mark against what was a catastrophic summer's worth of recruitment. Having spent a combined total of £166m on the aforementioned trio, United have paid the price - and are continuing to do so.
Those three signings, pound for pound, have to rank as some of United's worst in recent years - and there have been countless recruitment errors. With the squad in need of a shake-up this summer, United need as much revenue as possible to top up Amorim's transfer budget. However, their unconvincing goalkeeper and striker could cost them in their pursuit of Europa League glory and Champions League qualification to top up their finances.
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