Erik ten Hag's debut season at Manchester United was undoubtedly promising, but the Dutchman knew a huge summer lay ahead if his side were to close the gap on the Premier League's supreme force.
A distinct area of need given David De Gea's ambiguous situation was a goalkeeper boasting a profile more conducive for Ten Hag's ideals. Once again, the former Ajax boss sought familiarity; signing the shot-stopper who lined up between the sticks as Ajax reached the Champions League semi-finals under Ten Hag in 2019.
Andre Onana joined United in July off the back of a stellar single season with Inter. After usurping club legend Samir Handanovic as the Nerazzurri's number one, Onana played a starring role as Simone Inzaghi's side embarked on a majestic European adventure.
De Gea's exit rendered Onana United's new starting goalkeeper by default, and the Cameroonian has started the Red Devils' opening three Premier League games. So, how has the 27-year-old fared so far?
Andre Onana's performance in first three Premier League games
Shot-stopping & impact
United supporters would've expected a comfortable home debut for their new number one as the Red Devils hosted Wolves on Matchday 1, but Onana had to be at his best to preserve his side's victory.
Wolves tore United apart in transition and created several openings, especially in the second half, forcing Onana into six saves, a couple of which were smart low down with his feet. While his shot-stopping was excellent that night, he was fortunate to not give away a penalty for crashing into Sasa Kalajdzic when attempting to deal with a ball into his box.
Since then, however, Onana has conceded four goals in two games, but he couldn't have done too much to prevent any of those strikes from finding the back of the net (okay, maybe he dived too early when faced up against Taiwo Awoniyi one-v-one). As a result, his post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed rank (essentially how many goals he's prevented) is third among Premier League goalkeepers through three games. Only Bernd Leno (+3.7) and Alphonse Areola (+1.9) have performed better than Onana (+1.5) in this regard.
Distribution
While his shot-stopping has impressed early on, we're yet to see the Cameroonian international transform United's build-up play as some projected. Onana is undoubtedly more comfortable in possession than De Gea, and he's been able to pull off some outrageous passes already - a long ball for Alejandro Garnacho against Spurs sticks out. But, he's only attempted the seventh-most passes among goalkeepers this season (88), with much of his distribution coming over shorter distances.
His sweeping has also been pretty efficient, although it looked like he was instructed to stay a little deeper in United's win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The 27-year-old has made four sweeping actions outside his penalty area, with the average height of his defensive actions being the fifth-highest in the division. He's been proactive, that's for sure.
In terms of Onana's long game, there's clearly work to be done in terms of accuracy but also by those attempting to win the ball aerially. He ranks 21st out of the 22 goalkeepers who have played a Premier League game this season (completing just five of 26 passes), beating only Liverpool's Alisson.
Andre Onana's individual Premier League performances
Onana's biggest test will come when United travel to the Emirates Stadium to face title hopefuls Arsenal in the final game before the international break. The Gunners haven't really hit top gear in the first few games of their season and crucially dropped points from a winning position against Fulham - though they have do still have seven from a possible nine.
Distribution could be key against an Arsenal side who like to dominate games by having plenty of the ball, with emphasis sure to be on the 27-year-old to keep things calm and control. He may also have some work to do keeping the ball out - the Gunners have registered 39% off their shots on goal on target, the fifth best in the division, and can draw on the memories of last season's dramatic 3-2 win over the Red Devils.
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This article was originally published on 90min as How Andre Onana's statistics look from first three Man Utd games.
