Former Manchester United star explains why Andre Onana has struggled at the PL club following his summer move from Inter Milan

Former Manchester United captain Paul Ince has explained why Andre Onana's form has dropped since moving to Manchester United from Inter Milan.

Assessing the goalkeeper's situation, he told DAZN (via Goal):

"This phase of his career will provide valuable experience for him. It's not just him, either, as the goalkeeper is only as good as the defence he has in front of him. That's why he looked so good at Inter and why he didn't have so much to do. Man United are conceding a lot of goals and a lot of shots like we saw last night."

He added:

"They're not protecting him enough, and there lies the problem. Peter Schmeichel had Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Roy Keane, and myself in front of him and it was hard for teams to get at us. Man United look all over the place and they're very open at times."

Ince continued:

"That doesn't help Onana's performances whatsoever. It's a good learning curve for him and I think he'll get through it as he's a very good goalkeeper. He'll improve what he's doing, but I don't want him to completely change how he plays. Every player goes through bad times, and it's magnified even more due to him playing in goal."

Ince also opined that playing at United is a bigger challenge. He said:

"People need to understand that the pressure at Man United is ten-fold. He started in OK form, but the pressure got to him after he made one or two mistakes – and we can see that in his form now. Some players take a few months to adjust, some take a year, and others never live up to the standards, pressure, and expectations of the fans. I think Onana has to get past that. The opposition fans always hound him when he's on the ball, but that's the pressure you have to deal with."

Manchester United paid £43.8m to sign Onana from Inter Milan earlier this summer.

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Manchester United struggling with consistency this season

Erik ten Hag had a good debut campaign in the 2022-23 season. His team finished third in the league and Untied also won the Carabao Cup. However, things have been very different this time.

The Red Devils are struggling to play a good brand of football. Results have been inconsistent as well. They are currently seventh in the PL standings, with 28 points after 17 games.

The Red Devils were knocked out of the Champions League after finishing fourth in their group, behind Bayern Munich, Copenhagen and Galatasaray. They lost four of their six games in the competition.

United have also been eliminated from the Carabao Cup this season, making it a total of 12 defeats in 24 games across competitions for ten Hag in this campaign.