Andre Onana has revealed Manchester United’s dressing room is taking responsibility and trying to self-correct their “mistakes” to steer away from a poor start to the season.
Manager Erik ten Hag has tackled enormous scrutiny and speculation around his job security, but in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News, goalkeeper Onana has shared that the United players are not solely leaving it up to the coaching staff to find solutions for their deficiencies.
Onana flagged there is regular dialogue amongst the squad on fixing the issues that see them 12th in the Premier League table and without a win yet in Europe.
“We speak about everything,” said the Cameroon international. “We speak about goals, we speak about mistakes, we speak about free kicks. We speak about corners, how to defend and how to attack them.
“At the end of the day, when we step on the pitch, it’s to win.
“Clean sheets for defenders and as a goalkeeper is the first thing we have in mind. If we keep the zero, our front players, they will score. And [Marcus] Rashford sometimes when we score, he looks at me like, ‘Andre, now it’s your turn’ and he’s told me too – but in a nice way, because we are in this together.
“When they score, we are so happy because we are in this together. We make sure even in terms of build-up, we have to try to build up the best way possible to give them space.
“Now if Rashford is one against one with the defender, for us it’s helpful with his speed, he can make the difference. So we try always to speak about everything and look at what is best for the team.”
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Sky Sports News’ Gary Cotterill travels to Turkey ahead of Manchester United’s clash with Fenerbahce to see how Jose Mourinho is preparing to face his former side
Onana circles this togetherness and willingness to keep perspective as core to the team not getting swept up by the external noise around United.
“We stay together – as a football player and as a regular person, you know in life you will always find difficulty,” he says.
“You will come through it, you don’t know when but until you are there, you have to fight your way out.
“And us as players, when things are going wrong, we stay together because only together we can solve it.
“We showed already in the past that we can beat anyone. So we didn’t start this season how we want, but together we can change everything. So it is what we did and what we are going to do because everything in life is temporary.
“You will not always win and you will not always lose. So we have to find the good balance and move on because at the end of the day, it’s about winning games.
“That’s what we are training hard every day for and it’s important to stay together because if we are not together, then it’s better to not go on the pitch.”
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Highlights from the Premier League match between Manchester United and Brentford
Onana says he does not mind the constant criticism around United. “It’s the price to pay when you play for such a big club,” he concedes.
“You always hear about Manchester United, about Real Madrid, about Barcelona… fingers pointed everywhere. But us as players, we just focus on our things, because there are things in life we cannot control.
“And what people think and what people say, that is not what I can control. So we are just focused on our training, our games, our game plan and to win games because that is our main priority.
“What others think, we can’t control that – I wish we could control everything, but that is not for us. So we just let them speak and we are still in democracy so everyone is allowed to say whatever you want. We always try to take the positive side because it’s what is important for us.”
United face an arduous end to October with three games in six days, beginning away against familiar foe Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in the Europa League on Thursday night.
A top-flight battle follows at West Ham before United host Leicester in the Carabao Cup and Onana believes his team-mates are well primed for an uptick in form off the back of their victory against Brentford.
“Once you win is always nice, the victory always brings a very good mood, very good energy,” he said.
“It’s extra motivation, especially at the moment with how important it is for us to win in Turkey. So we are going there to win.
“We have three big competitions, we just have to be ourselves, get good rest and get ready for the games.”
Onana believes United’s greater focus on being difficult to beat and better out of possession will aid them through a taxing schedule.
“We are more compact, we have more control and this is what we were looking for,” he says.
“And I think it’s the way we have to follow. We will keep improving and our defence is doing fantastic. So now we have to go for the next step.
“The approach is always the same because we are used to doing this for years already, but we have to be pragmatic also because it’s not only about us, also you have to react to the opponent. And in football, you have so many things – also in life which doesn’t only depend on you. Like sometimes with a referee’s decision. You have to deal with the situation and move on.
“You have so many opponents who don’t even want to press us in the build-up anymore. Then for them, it’s like wasting time. The drop is showing us some respect. It’s what I like also because we are doing good things and yeah, it’s what we wanted.
“When I came here, they told me: ‘Andre, we have to be a dominant team.’ And the dominant team is the team that will take a risk. We have players who have personality to play and it’s what we are showing. Sometimes mistakes will come because it’s part of life and we keep doing the same and move on, improve, develop…
“It’s about how we can learn from our mistakes and not change the philosophy because it’s too easy to change everything when things are going bad. But we never have to forget what brings us to this high level.”
