By Imo-owo Mbede
Among the ever-volatile Manchester United fanbase, scapegoats are always in season. This time, the collective daggers are targeted at André Onana, the Cameroonian goalkeeper whose every move between the sticks has seemingly been magnified, scrutinised, and crucified.
Following the 2-2 draw against Lyon in the Europa League quarterfinals—a match United came painfully close to winning, the narrative took on a familiar, reactionary tone: Onana is at fault. Again.
But here’s the inconvenient truth for the knee-jerk critics: Onana is not at fault—he’s simply become a fall guy in a team that has been creaking from back to front.
*The First Goal: A Collective Failing*
Let’s talk about the first goal conceded in Lyon. Yes, Onana anticipated a flick from the Lyon attackers and hesitated. His calculated decision unfortunately backfired when no touch was made and the ball sailed directly into the net. Was it avoidable? Perhaps. Was it wholly his fault? Absolutely not.
But WHERE WERE THE DEFENDERS? Why was the ball allowed to travel untouched across the six-yard box without a single Manchester United head making contact? This is a team that has struggled consistently with defending set-pieces all season, so this was not an isolated lapse. It was another episode in a long-running defensive horror series—and Onana, being the last man, was the unfortunate easy target.
*The Second Goal: The Usual Goal-mouth Chaos*
The second goal, a late equalizer by Ryan Chekri, was preceded by the defensive chaos that has come to be the hallmark of the team. The ball pinballed around under immense pressure, nerves frayed, composure evaporated, and Onana found himself facing a sudden point-blank shot. He managed to parry it, but the rebound was scored.
Expecting a miracle save under such circumstances is either naïve or willfully dishonest. The real question is: why was the defence unable to manage the game after United went ahead? Why do the outfield players repeatedly lose their heads, their calm, and their direction when it matters most? If Onana had better shielding—better organised, more confident and less jittery defenders—this conversation might not even be happening.
*The Blame Culture*
There’s a worrying trend in the modern football fanbase, particularly among the impatient hordes on social media: the collective amnesia that forgets past heroics the moment a mistake is made. Have we already forgotten the various occasions Onana saved United’s blushes in games this season? Or how, unlike his predecessor David De Gea—who was hounded out for being weak on crosses—Onana provides a calmness in ball distribution and command of the area that modern goalkeeping demands?
It is intellectually dishonest to compare De Gea and Onana without context. The former was a reactionary shot-stopper in a largely reactive United team. The latter is a high-line, sweeper-keeper tasked with initiating play, managing space, and serving as a quasi-defender when the centre-backs lose shape. Different profiles. Different eras. Different challenges.
A dysfunctional system cannot produce fully functional individuals. Let’s be honest: Onana is not manning the posts for peak Sir Alex Ferguson’s United. He is between the sticks for what might be the most psychologically weak United side in history. The midfield is inconsistent. The backline is consistently injury-prone and makeshift. The attackers are blunt and wasteful. The team cannot control games and cannot kill off games. Yet, all fingers point to the goalkeeper.
Why? Because in this United team, every player looks worse than they are. From Casemiro to Eriksen to Maguire, the problem isn’t just individual—it’s structural. And until that structure is fixed, no goalkeeper in the world, not even vintage Manuel Neuer, would be spared. Even the team’s talisman and captain, Bruno Fernandes, has a bad game sometimes.
You do not go from Ajax to Inter Milan to Manchester United if you’re not elite. Onana has proven himself on some of the biggest stages in European football. He’s manned posts in Champions League knockout rounds, played in high-pressure derbies, and helped Inter to a Champions League final. That pedigree does not vanish overnight. So, before we scapegoat him, perhaps we need to pause and ask the real questions: Why does it seem like every good player United signs becomes average overnight?
Onana, like every player, has his flaws. But he is also one of the few players trying to build something amid the wreckage. If we must critique, let it be balanced. If we must analyse, let it be intelligent. Because at the end of the day, Manchester United’s problem is not the man between the sticks—it’s the system collapsing around him. So to the witch-hunters calling for his head: perhaps the real blunder is failing to think beyond (racial) sentiments and emotions.
