There was an untidy penalty shout at Wolves, a howler at Bayern, a catastrophic pass which resulted in Casemiro seeing red against Galatasaray - before falling to ground early as Mauro Icadi netted the late winner. Andre Onana is under fire.
Fingers have been pointing in several directions after Manchester United recorded their worst start to a league campaign in 34 years and have opened a Champions League campaign with consecutive defeats for the first time in their history.
Harry Maguire continues to endure a rough ride as he waits in the wings for a run of first-team club action, the Glazers put the club up for sale 10 months ago and remains an ongoing situation, Erik ten Hag as fallen out with Jadon Sancho, Antony was given a leave of absence last month to deal with allegations of abuse against him and questions have been asked over the form of Mason Mount, Casemiro and Marcus Rashford - in addition to the entire defence.
Indeed, Ten Hag himself is coming under growing scrutiny after overseeing a £410.9m splurge on signings since taking the helm.
Onana, drafted to replace long-term No 1 David De Gea in the summer and deliver a new possession-based style of play, ceded himself that his "start in Manchester hasn't been good" after Leroy Sane's tame shot trickled under him a fortnight ago.
So, has the Cameroon international been notably at fault and has his well-touted passing abilities mitigated the mistakes so far? Should United have let De Gea go in the summer and is Onana just another scapegoat during their disastrous start to the campaign?
Passing and style
The touch maps below show all touches made in the first seven league games by De Gea last season and Onana this term - clearly showing how Onana is more mobile and has even registered two touches in the opposition half.
Maguire's exile was part of a similar process, where Ten Hag looked to deploy ball-playing defenders, comfortable with taking short passes under pressure. The graphic below shows how United have progressed on that front this season - retaining possession far more frequently after taking a goal-kick.
Coupled with ball retention, Ten Hag has looked to push his team higher up the pitch and recover the ball higher up the pitch, to squeeze opponents - edging towards a high-line style more aligned with Manchester City, Liverpool and Newcastle and moving away from the countering style which became synonymous under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The graphic below shows the rolling 10-game average for Manchester United's starting distance in the Premier League during Ten Hag's tenure and shows how, month by month, United have started open-play passing sequences higher and higher upfield - effectively recovering possession further upfield.
Indeed, Ten Hag's side currently register a league-topping 44.99m from their own goal line when starting open-play passing sequences - ahead of Newcastle and Manchester City.
But pushing higher upfield leaves defenders vulnerable to the counter attack when the counter-press is lost or the defensive line breaks. Additionally, playing out from the back can go wrong.
In those moments, a team often need their goalkeeper to bail them out...
Shot-stopping and handling
Onana's biggest blunders in a United shirt have come in the Champions League so far - notably shipping a tame shot from Sane against Bayern and initiating the catastrophic chain of events with his wayward pass against Galatasaray - resulting in Casemiro seeing red, before being beaten easily with a lob when faced one-on-one with Icardi.
Some of those mishaps have contributed to Onana registering the fourth-worst xG differential in the competition to date - having shipped 1.23 goals more than expected.
But things don't look so bad in the Premier League, where Onana ranks among a midrange cluster of top-flight stoppers for preventing goals and save percentage, which, arguably, reflects United's standing in the league table.
A quick glimpse at United's past and present 'keepers suggests Onana has faced an above-average numbers of shots struck low in his far corners - already facing 23 from nine games in the Premier League and Champions League. De Gea faced fewer than twice that total in 38 league games last season.
The radar comparison below factors Onana's Premier League and Champions League performances this season and shows how he's been busier than De Gea was at United last season but has shipped far more goals from inside his box - albeit, poor defending and clinical finishing can also play a part here.
So, how do De Gea and Onana compare, when looking at their Premier League statistics since last season?
Per game, Onana has conceded more goals and kept fewer clean sheets but has saved more shots and completed more passes - however, surprisingly, only seven passes more per 90 minutes, on average.
The key thing here is both keepers register on par for preventing goals, meaning both shipped as many goals as expected - based on the quality of chances they faced.
Ten Hag's roadmap is under way but his evolving style appears to be presenting clearer chances for opponents. His side need to snuff out errors, defend better and execute the plan but teething issues appear to be hampering consistent results.
However, the Dutchman needs positive results fast, with bookies pitting him as the second-favourite Premier League manager to face the axe next, after Paul Heckingbottom.
Dexfee
611
Onana is not that bad. The team is having issues all round, even the coach too
Dihablmsuy
531
Based on all these stats it's clear to see ETH is setting something up. We have to give the time it takes to work with the current squad and develop it in the way he wants to. Last season we saw him sacrifice some of his footballing ideas to allow the team to still perform in ways we were used to so we could come top 4. Now he's clearly decided it's necessary to move forward with his lomg-term plan and I think it's the right move. The only way we're going to get to a point where we can challenge the big boys is if we develop a style over time and get used to it, this takes time, and in the interim it's normal to have teething problems as long as things are starting to move in the right direction which these stats clearly show they are. If we fire him before he has a real chance to implement his plan we're going to end up in exactly the same position as we were in before we hired him. When you have a team like City that's so well-established, the only way to even hope to compete is to look in the long-term and I hope the fans and management can realize this.
Vocdilosyz
482
Before 10Hag can go, Onana must focus more on forward passes than sloppy and time wasting passes with defenders aiming at only keeping the ball behind than looking for goals first. If not his quality will not be seen when the results are not positive. The team is tooooo poor upfront and irresponsible when defending as a team. If they can maximize the ball possession with some good chance creation and execution then they're good to go. it's also a high time for 10 Hag to balance his team than relying on just names. Even Rustforth or Bruno deserve bench on some days, not playing every game yet they're not delivering upftont and even not helping defensively
TommyTang
394
AO came in at a time of a major injury crisis especially at the back. Without the butcher, the back line is slower and less aggressive. RV is good but in his 30 and injury prone, he will soon find himself on the bench once MU brings in some younger options. In the middle field, the aging pair of Case and CE is beginning to show its deterioration. Another renewal is set to be addressed. The academy players are showing some promise and should be given more chances to play and proof themselves. The front is not where the problem anymore (where it used to be) with RH showing his teeth and claws. But a team cannot try to out score their opponents to win games. The Jan24 window, MU really to bring more defenders and CM to build on
kondimntu
271
I don't blame Onana I blame the entire team and management. They are all useless they really don't understand the meaning of soccer. And players they are all useless when it comes on the pitch. When you score the goal you really make sure your enemy don't get chance to fight back. United they always fight hard when they see other team equalise but before other team equalise that's the time united having dancing time feeling like they already win the game. Their enemies fight so hard from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. United players please I beg stop relaxing when on duty keep focusing on every movements of your enemies. We have great players in united squad but all of them they get destroyed very easily. And to the coach please do not delays when it comes to the substitute bring out the player who looks so absent minded on the pitch. The wingers from both sides left and right are not showing their classic performance as a winger. Both united players seems they are all strikers everyone wants to score a goal don't want to assist each other. They should know 1 goal from 1 player is the happiest moment for the entire team and management.
Logoman22
200
I De Gea is not good at his feet but was a Man U great savior because the entire team needs to backup but there is some goals De Gea don’t conceid that makes me choose him over Onana.Man U should see that at De Gea time they don’t have confidence and aggressive defensive.that’s where they need to go for players which can play with confidence and in that case De Gea can also learn how to use his feet because he is already good in catching.During Jordi alba and Semedo time at Barcelona Ter stergen was not good enough of his feet because this two backs were not good enough.not that Ter Stergen can’t do but his defense cannot help him to do that likewise De Gea.Man U should have noticed all this
EngineerMendoza
177
do you know: we bought onana to replace David De Gea in Manchester United, we are not looking for a goalkeeper when we bought onana' but we are looking for upgrade from that post" so for you to start looking for sympathy on onana, for me it doesn't make sense because we leave David De Gea to go from Manchester United not because he is not catching well" but because we need an upgrade we don't need error at that post" so for you to start posting this stuff or looking for sympathy for onana it doesn't make sense. so for me it doesn't make sense to compare David De Gea at his first season at Manchester United to onana first season at Manchester United. so for me onana need to adapt to Manchester United as soon as possible.
Dokaimopt
95
i just see ETH wants to assert his authority on the squad/club. But this thing doesn't work out now in MU. Those days are long gone since Sir Alex's Reign. ETH isn't even in that level of Sir Alex. So I think he should have first build up his repo in the squad & trust which I don't see. Plus he can't manage big names in his squad which is what he hasn't learnt or done at Ajax. So that's the reason why players like CR7, Greenwood, Sancho are being handled not well. This inturn translates into less confidence building within the first team as well. This will continue & there will be no solution to the problem till it's no way back
NAFRIENDEM
11
Onana is not that bad. The team is having issues all round, even the coach too
[image]
just remember DDG was young and inexperienced while onana is very experienced. So think again if u this comparison makes sense.