Erik ten Hag made an unusual decision at Manchester United regarding their transfer dealing which the club could regret for a long time.
It is a well known fact that the Man United manager has had the authority to have a say on who the club will sign, something the new leadership of INEOS have decided to change.
The Dutchman’s future has now been sorted at Old Trafford and the Red Devils have decided to keep him at the club, following uncertainty around his future this summer.
At Man United, ten Hag has signed players he has known in some capacity; like Antony, Lisandro Martinez and Andre Onana from Ajax or Sofyan Amrabat, who ten Hag knows from their time together at Utrecht.
In doing that, the Man United boss passed up the opportunity to sign Aston Villa and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
The former Arsenal goalkeeper has made a name for himself as one of the best players in the world in his position, having helped Aston Villa achieve a top four finish and by winning the Copa America and the World Cup with his country.
Gonzalo Goni, the Argentine goalkeeper’s agent, has claimed that Man United wanted to sign Martinez but ten Hag decided to go for Onana from Ajax.
Goni told ESPN:
“Last year he was very close to Manchester United, the coach chose Onana, because he already knew him.
“But everyone at Manchester United later maintained that the ideal goalkeeper to win was Emiliano Martínez.”
Andre Onana has struggled at Man United
Onana joined Man United and found it difficult to settle at the club. The former Inter Milan goalkeeper made a number of high profile errors in his debut Premier League season.
Despite winning the FA Cup, Onana cost Man United a lot of points in the league and the Champions League and his form was more or less the reason behind their dismal campaign in Europe.
United finished eighth in the league and conceded 58 goals, the most they have ever conceded in the competition, finishing eighth in the end, their worst finish in the league.
It could have been a lot different if ten Hag had approved the signing of Martinez who had prior experience in the Premier League.
“Onana cost Man United a lot of points in the league and the Champions League and his form was more or less the reason behind their dismal campaign in Europe.”
Horsesith bordering on racism. Onana didn’t have the best, especially in Europe, start to his campaign but grew into his role. United’s defence was almost the worst of all prem teams, allowing the most shots on target. Look at Onana’s stats and it’s obvious he’s saved them more points that they would have otherwise lost.
1. He had more clean sheets than Martinez.
2. 58 conceded is up there for Man Utd, but it was less than Vicario and Leno, and far from the worst. Just bad for Utd.
3. Tellingly, Onana also made the most saves in the EPL: 149. So, more save and more clean sheets than Martinez.
4. His Xgc stands at 70, yet his actual GC is 58, so he’s second best in the league at pulling off unexpected saves. Martinez is 10th.
The only stat that really counts against his 23/24 season at Utd is goals conceded, and only if you choose to ignore the context of him playing behind of the leakiest defenses that existed behind a gone missing midfield in Utd’s history too.
Racism is ugly, especially when it hides behind cherry-picked stats to prove a point that lacks context.
Do better.