Manchester United’s struggles continued at the weekend, as they dropped two more points in a draw against Everton in their final visit to Goodison Park.
While Ruben Amorim’s team were able to dig themselves out of a 2-0 half-time deficit to claim a point, it means the club have just one win in their last five Premier League games and remain 15th in the Premier League table.
It is clear that Manchester United have a number of issues to resolve, not least at the back, where they have only kept one clean sheet in the Premier League in 2025 so far, with questions again being asked about the contribution of £47million goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Former Manchester United coach spells out Andre Onana issue
The 28-year-old is now in his second season at Old Trafford following his 2023 switch from Inter Milan and has been an ever-present in the team’s 44 Premier League games since he made the move.
Saturday’s match at Goodison Park saw him register another error when he failed to parry the ball to safety before Abdoulaye Doucoure scored Everton’s second. This followed recent mistakes against Brighton and Tottenham that led to goals and his up-and-down performances have got on the radar of one of the game’s most respected goalkeeping coaches.
Frans Hoek has worked with some of the best goalkeepers of the past two decades and had a spell at Manchester United under Louis van Gaal from 2014, where he worked with David De Gea.
And he believes that De Gea’s consistancy is what separates him from the current Red Devils No.1.
“I was there at the 2023 Champions League Final and I thought Onana had a perfect game, he was amazing for Inter,” the Dutchman told RG.
“He is capable of playing at an incredibly high level and can reach an incredible level, but you have to do it three times a week, 50–60 times a year, which is very difficult. Consistency is the most important thing for a goalkeeper, De Gea was incredibly consistent in my two years at United, and if I look at Onana, I can see he’s not consistent.”
In FourFourTwo's view, the experienced Hoek is spot-on when it comes to raising the question of Onana’s consistancy. The Cameroon international - valued at €35million on Transfermarkt - does not have the reliability of a player like current Fiorentina stopper De Gea - who was ranked at No.6 in FourFourTwo's list of the best goalkeepers in Premier League history.
One reason for this is the lack of competition that Onana has for the No.1 shirt, as he has the look of a player who would benefit from being alongside an experienced, top class stopper, but given the club’s financial issues, it’s hard to see this being an area the club can afford to address in the short-term.
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