Andre Onana is struggling at Man Utd | Football Digest
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has leapt to the defence of Manchester United shot-stopper Andre Onana and has insisted the Cameroon international will come good. The Red Devils shelled out £47million to sign Onana from Inter Milan in the summer after allowing David de Gea to leave on a free transfer. But the former Ajax star has endured a miserable start to life at Old Trafford and has been at fault for a number of goals his side have conceded.
“Onana is of course a really good goalkeeper,” Alisson said ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League showdown with United on Sunday. “The Champions League he played last season was amazing, the way he performed. But in my career I went through something similar to what he is living.
“Coming from an Italian club to England, to a big club, for a lot of money. This is a lot of responsibility over your shoulders and he came here with the responsibility to be the replacement for De Gea, who maybe was not in the best shape of his career but he was still delivering.
“He delivered so many good things for Manchester United and so many appearances for Manchester United and [to replace that] is a big step in your career. I think he is capable of this responsibility, but sometimes it takes longer with some than others. You are changing team, you are changing league, they are trying to adapt and discover themselves and that can affect you a lot.”
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When Alisson arrived at Anfield in 2018, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had built a team that had just reached the Champions League final. The Brazil international proved to be the final part of Klopp’s jigsaw as the Reds went on to win Europe’s top-tier club competition the following year before getting their hands on the Club World Cup trophy and the Premier League title.
And Alisson has suggested Onana’s arrival in England has coincided with a difficult time for the Red Devils. “I was lucky in that I was coming to a team that was with everything already going in a different way, that was building, so I think he will get there,” the 31-year-old added.
“He needs to be patient, he needs to do that with everything that is going on in his life in the best way that he can. And I think he is someone who in this moment needs the support of everybody.”
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Meanwhile, Alisson has acknowledged that goalkeepers have a much bigger role to play with their feet than they did in the past. “It changed since I think Manuel Neuer,” he added. “I think if you look in the past you can see goalkeepers who play with the feet.
“I think [Victor] Valdes was a goalkeeper that played a lot at Barcelona with his feet but Neuer was the guy who was more active in playing, in sweeping behind the defensive line. And then Ederson, myself, so many goalkeepers that have the quality to play. I think the biggest difference is that the managers want it now, teams that build up from the goal kicks and not only kick long and fight for second balls.”
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