[Mwooyo]

Surprises me that people complain that he makes some great passes and some bad ones...as opposed to what??...which goalkeeper consistently makes 100% passes all the time. Neur fumbled a bunch of passes midweek but its never mentioned.

Onanas passing is really world class...he made enough passes that broke their press...enough for us to get a goal or 2. Anthony and mctominay are just lousy players. He made the same passes away at arsenal too...we are just quick forget

I said it when onana messed up in the champions league, we are allowing too many shots on goal to be a top team...and the core problem is NOT onana...its the midfield and forward lines. We lacked control with so many of our games being end to end.

It doesn't matter who we have in goal, if we continue to concede this number of shots, we will not win anything of substance. The moment we have mctominay in the line up, forget about control. If you have mctominay, bruno and casemiro in the same line up....just completely forget about it. Casemiro and Bruno are too direct, always looking for through passes... mctominay is just a lousy footballer. We will always need a mainoo or an amrabat or an eriksen in that lineup.

 

[bond19821982]

It wasn’t minute detail. You was praising him for something he didn’t do, just the same as people who give him shit for things he hasn’t done.

As the poster above said, he made some great passes and some shit passes. It doesn’t need to be exaggerated either way

It was minute and you were exaggerating . If you want more proof, the athletic has post match analysis on how Onana's passing stood out.

Well, now it's SOFA and Athletic. So definitely he didn't had an "average" game ?

 

[Zlatan 7]

It was minute and you were exaggerating . If you want more proof, the athletic has post match analysis on how Onana's passing stood out.

Well, now it's SOFA and Athletic. So definitely he didn't had an "average" game ?

All I said was that he didn’t make every single pass as you suggested. That’s obviously the truth if you watched the game. I also said he saved what he had to save so happy days job done but he wasn’t motm. Not sure what your problem is

 

[sebsheep]

Most misleading stat ever.

Same as people talking about the number of goals he'd conceded earlier on this season then.

 

[Adnan]

I thought he did well and his composure on the ball meant Liverpool's high press wasn't as effective as it could've been. Liverpool had run out of ideas and were taking pointless shots because they couldn't win the ball high up the pitch against us. In previous seasons we just lumped it forward and the Liverpool players would comfortably regain possession by winning the second ball and then they would commit a high number of players into the final third, and hence they would pin us into our own half.

Onana made a difference on the ball in the game imo.

 

[Oscar Bonavena]

Did ok today. You'd expect any PL gk to make the saves he did. His best one was from the van dijk header but it was very central, so it was another one he should be expected to make.

He is very comfortable with the ball at his feet so it gives us more options in terms of playing the ball out and gives the defenders more options in that they know they can use him if they're under pressure.

He's also quick off his line to sweep up which I'm convinced has given Maguire more confidence and helped improve his form.

Long term, I don't think his shot stopping is good enough, his technique is awful. He'll let in more powder puff shots this season because of it. Would get away with it most of the time in a free scoring team, but unfortunately we ain't that.

 

[Pickle85]

I thought he did well and his composure on the ball meant Liverpool's high press wasn't as effective as it could've been. Liverpool had run out of ideas and were taking pointless shots because they couldn't win the ball high up the pitch against us. In previous seasons we just lumped it forward and the Liverpool players would comfortably regain possession by winning the second ball and then they would commit a high number of players into the final third, and hence they would pin us into our own half.

Onana made a difference on the ball in the game imo.

Onana was a negligible part of Liverpool's high press not working. Their top players were off their game and they were mostly poor. I think this is confirmation bias in action. Onana was decent...he made saves you'd expect any top keeper to make and his distribution was decent, but let's not make it something it wasn't.

 

[Red00012]

He dropped one cross? Kicked a couple out for throw ins?

What else did he do that was dodgy?

It’s called having an agenda against x player

 

[Trequarista10]

Some dodgy overhit chipped passes to the full back (or to Mainoo who positioned himself at full back whilst Dalot came inside). But those are hard passes, Liverpool were all over our midfield, and going long to Hojlund doesn't work either.

I've been a critic of him too, but I thought he was OK. The errors were understandable, and it's clear he has ability to distribute even if execution was a bit off today on difficult circumstances. I worried at one point because the home crowd obviously sensed they could unnerve him but he kept his cool, which is a positive sign imo.

Our biggest problem playing out from the back is our DM(s) are not top quality, and the CBs are good but not great at playing out. So we were having to rely on Onana making difficult chipped passes to the wings. I hope in the future we'll see Mainoo trusted to play just in front of the CBs and help us play out, but I think it was smart from ETH to not put that expectation on him today. Somewhat disappointed that Amrabat didn't take up the mantle as I thought that's what we signed him for, but he's clearly not the solution either.

 

[CoopersDream]

Same as people talking about the number of goals he'd conceded earlier on this season then.

Both are misleading, obviously. But implying that Onana was the difference between this years Liverpool match and last years because we faced as many shots on target against us while simultaneously United have conceded more goals mid-december (in all comps) than what we ever did with de Gea seems a bit strange to me.

 

[Raoul]

He was adequate today. No major mistakes and made a couple of decent reaction saves. Beyond that, its easy to see he's a high risk low reward type keeper whose antics are probabilistically bound to result in more mistakes than not.

 

[Gator Nate]

Onana was a negligible part of Liverpool's high press not working. Their top players were off their game and they were mostly poor. I think this is confirmation bias in action. Onana was decent...he made saves you'd expect any top keeper to make and his distribution was decent, but let's not make it something it wasn't.

Yes, yes, same old story... every time we beat a team, they were playing crap and it had nothing to do with the way we set up or played against them. While I was a little disappointed with how many balls he sent out the sidelines, he continually draws forwards in before pinging the ball out and he does so confidently. They can't just double-team someone else because they have to account for him.

 

[Adnan]

Onana was a negligible part of Liverpool's high press not working. Their top players were off their game and they were mostly poor. I think this is confirmation bias in action. Onana was decent...he made saves you'd expect any top keeper to make and his distribution was decent, but let's not make it something it wasn't.

Their high press was off because Onana can resist the press and doesn't lump it long like De Gea did, which allowed Liverpool to comfortably win the second ball, with players like Van Dijk, Matip etc. We lose the game with De Gea today because he does nothing to alleviate the problems Liverpool pose when applying the press high up the pitch. And kicking it long also plays into Liverpool's hands because our forwards are not going to win many duels against Liverpool's CBs and midfielders.

So what ends up happening is Liverpool or any other dominant team pins us in our own half with the GK rooted to his line, not doing a lot to alleviate pressure on the back line and midfield, and is seen as someone who is saving us. Onana may not be good enough long-term, but he's a far better GK than De Gea is, if the aim is to be a more dominant team in the present day EPL.

 

[SAFMUTD]

That pass to Antony was class, unfortunately for us Antony is as slow as a snail and couldn't take advantage of it but if that lands to a proper winger we'd had a one on one right there.

 

[sebsheep]

Both are misleading, obviously. But implying that Onana was the difference between this years Liverpool match and last years because we faced as many shots on target against us while simultaneously United have conceded more goals mid-december (in all comps) than what we ever did with de Gea seems a bit strange to me.

I doubt it was the real implication, reads more like a joke aimed at the ones in here constantly saying we should've kept De Gea and pretending he was brilliant last season.
I said earlier on in the season, we had conceded around the same amount of goals as last season at the time.

 

[Marcelinho87]

His compusure with the ball was crucial today. I love ddg but if he was between the sticks, we would have been lumping it straight back every time, suffering wave after wave of pressure and their crowd would have been wild. Onana took the sting out of the game at vital moments. It's a shame that we don't have enough technical players for his game to really shine.

Absolutely, not a lot realise what he brings in this regard.

 

[Plant0x84]

He brings nothing to inspire confidence, to relax his defenders or impose himself on the game.
The playing out from the back in the first 20 mins is as bad as I’ve seen, so then he took to having a touch and launching it out of play which frankly DDG could have done just as well.

 

[RedIan]

Mixed bag today. A few decent stops and a clean sheet. I lost count of how many times his long kicks went straight out of play.

 

[Oranges038]

Their high press was off because Onana can resist the press and doesn't lump it long like De Gea did, which allowed Liverpool to comfortably win the second ball, with players like Van Dijk, Matip etc. We lose the game with De Gea today because he does nothing to alleviate the problems Liverpool pose when applying the press high up the pitch. And kicking it long also plays into Liverpool's hands because our forwards are not going to win many duels against Liverpool's CBs and midfielders.

So what ends up happening is Liverpool or any other dominant team pins us in our own half with the GK rooted to his line, not doing a lot to alleviate pressure on the back line and midfield, and is seen as someone who is saving us. Onana may not be good enough long-term, but he's a far better GK than De Gea if the aim is to be a more dominant team in the present day EPL.

Spot on, anytime he did bomb it long down the middle it came right back.

I think the clip out to the full back was setup to be on and he gave those out to Shaw a few times, it's a great ball for beating that press, especially when you lack the ball players in midfield to play through that area. His ability on the ball was shown today for how effective it can be when being pressed high like that.

 

[evil_geko]

Are people actually saying he had a bad game today? The agenda is strong with you!

His distribution was mostly good, was great under pressure, good game!

 

[lex talionis]

I’m not going up shame the poster by quoting him directly, but Onana’s passing is nowhere near “world class”.

 

[bond19821982]

Their high press was off because Onana can resist the press and doesn't lump it long like De Gea did, which allowed Liverpool to comfortably win the second ball, with players like Van Dijk, Matip etc. We lose the game with De Gea today because he does nothing to alleviate the problems Liverpool pose when applying the press high up the pitch. And kicking it long also plays into Liverpool's hands because our forwards are not going to win many duels against Liverpool's CBs and midfielders.

So what ends up happening is Liverpool or any other dominant team pins us in our own half with the GK rooted to his line, not doing a lot to alleviate pressure on the back line and midfield, and is seen as someone who is saving us. Onana may not be good enough long-term, but he's a far better GK than De Gea is, if the aim is to be a more dominant team in the present day EPL.

Exactly. People just don't want to see the obvious ones. Dalot coming in to midfield to receive the pass and dribble through the Liverpool midfield , passing it to wings and it was Antony or Mainoo to receive the pass, was all part of the plans.

But hey, he is crap and can't do anything wrong

 

[Pronewbie]

Absolutely, not a lot realise what he brings in this regard.

Neville and Carra were lambasting United for building from the back early in the 1st half but shut their gob up after the scousers gave up in the 2nd half as we were tearing through their high press too often. We need to play this way to bring out Onana's strength. You can see the confidence and joy grow when he is allowed to perform to his strengths.

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

Their high press was off because Onana can resist the press and doesn't lump it long like De Gea did, which allowed Liverpool to comfortably win the second ball, with players like Van Dijk, Matip etc. We lose the game with De Gea today because he does nothing to alleviate the problems Liverpool pose when applying the press high up the pitch. And kicking it long also plays into Liverpool's hands because our forwards are not going to win many duels against Liverpool's CBs and midfielders.

So what ends up happening is Liverpool or any other dominant team pins us in our own half with the GK rooted to his line, not doing a lot to alleviate pressure on the back line and midfield, and is seen as someone who is saving us. Onana may not be good enough long-term, but he's a far better GK than De Gea is, if the aim is to be a more dominant team in the present day EPL.

Brilliant post. Should be threadmarked.

 

[Rhyme Animal]

Onana was a negligible part of Liverpool's high press not working. Their top players were off their game and they were mostly poor. I think this is confirmation bias in action. Onana was decent...he made saves you'd expect any top keeper to make and his distribution was decent, but let's not make it something it wasn't.

Their press was not working because of Onana’s ability to negate it.

If you watched at all his journey to the CL final last season, and his great performance in that final, you would know this is one of his specialities and it’s what makes him such a valuable keeper when used correctly.

Liverpool are very good at that press, the difference this reason was that Utd had Onana.

Showing him a little respect - and gratitude - for that should be a given and the least you can do.

Unless you fancy facing Liverpool again with a keeper who falls to pieces when pressed like last season…

 

[YSB99]

His passing is a myth. He’s constantly flapping for the ball, the difference between him and Allison is massive overall as a goalkeeper and he should be sold soon as to recoup some money,

 

[Annihilate Now!]

He was better. Saved what he should have saved (which IS an improvement) and ultra comfortable with the ball at his feet. I still maintain his long range passing isn't great overall - though he did whack that beauty to (unfortunately) Antony... any winger with pace and he might have got an assist out of that.

I do worry about him when he comes out for crosses/corners though - seems to get stuck in no man's land sometimes, and will often flap a bit at things.

 

[Pickle85]

Their press was not working because of Onana’s ability to negate it.

If you watched at all his journey to the CL final last season, and his great performance in that final, you would know this is one of his specialities and it’s what makes him such a valuable keeper when used correctly.

Liverpool are very good at that press, the difference this reason was that Utd had Onana.

Showing him a little respect - and gratitude - for that should be a given and the least you can do.

Unless you fancy facing Liverpool again with a keeper who falls to pieces when pressed like last season…

the bolded is a bit OTT, no?! He's a footballer, he's not negotiating peace in the middle east.

Like I said, he was decent yesterday but I think many are looking for any reasons to praise him to the heavens. Reasons which, to date, still aren't immediately obvious. He looks comfortable with the ball at his feet but, outside of that fabulous long ball to Antony and the time he beat a man (was it Salah?) which worried me, he didn't do anything out of the ordinary. He made fifteen and twenty yard passes that you'd expect most to make. I certainly hope he continues to improve and shows more like Sunday than like Vs galatasaray.

 

[NoPace]

Their high press was off because Onana can resist the press and doesn't lump it long like De Gea did, which allowed Liverpool to comfortably win the second ball, with players like Van Dijk, Matip etc. We lose the game with De Gea today because he does nothing to alleviate the problems Liverpool pose when applying the press high up the pitch. And kicking it long also plays into Liverpool's hands because our forwards are not going to win many duels against Liverpool's CBs and midfielders.

So what ends up happening is Liverpool or any other dominant team pins us in our own half with the GK rooted to his line, not doing a lot to alleviate pressure on the back line and midfield, and is seen as someone who is saving us. Onana may not be good enough long-term, but he's a far better GK than De Gea is, if the aim is to be a more dominant team in the present day EPL.

Beautifully written. I don't think we see 90 minutes out today with De Gea in net. Onana inspires little confidence in me as a shot-stopper, but you can see why Ten Hag wanted him. Same as Antony. They make a lot of structural sense, but so far they've just not been quite good enough.

You could see it when the game got a bit more wide open and Onana started hitting Dalot on the turn to progress the ball, or that one great long ball to Antony.

We'd have less points in the league with De Gea, though probably be alive in the Champions League.

I'm still not quite sure why we're so bad at building up play. It leads us to end up playing McTominay and that makes us worse. We miss Lisandro, obviously too.

 

[mu4c_20le]

He brings nothing to inspire confidence, to relax his defenders or impose himself on the game.
The playing out from the back in the first 20 mins is as bad as I’ve seen, so then he took to having a touch and launching it out of play which frankly DDG could have done just as well.

I don't think I've ever seen him catch a cross.

 

[Plant0x84]

I don't think I've ever seen him catch a cross.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen him catch anything, the ball just bounces off him when he gets lucky. He is the Lukaku of goalkeeping.

 

[Oranges038]

I don't think I've ever seen him catch a cross.

Last minute vs wolves where he dove through bodies to get the ball, wasn't a high one but still needed claiming. In fact he's made more high claims than 10 other keepers, so that in itself is an improvement. 3rd or 4th best shot stopper in the league. Plus he's joint top of the pile for clean sheets.

What more can you want?

 

[Plant0x84]

Last minute vs wolves where he dove through bodies to get the ball, wasn't a high one but still needed claiming. In fact he's made more high claims than 10 other keepers, so that in itself is an improvement. 3rd or 4th best shot stopper in the league. Plus he's joint top of the pile for clean sheets.

What more can you want?

You mean the one where he assaulted 2 wolves players and was lucky to not give away a penalty against us?

 

[UpWithRivers]

I thought he was poor. He must have kicked the ball out 5 times in the first half. After that I stopped counting. He flaps at crosses and he is positionally all over the place. That Trent shot that went wide from the edge of the box he was moving in the opposite direction. Anything on target and it was in. His stats look good but literally every keeper in the league would have made those saves. It was simple keeping. So overall he was average in bits of it, poor in others and good with his feet. If thats a good keeper performance than our standards are fkd.

 

[Remember the geese]

You mean the one where he assaulted 2 wolves players and was lucky to not give away a penalty against us?

No that isn't the action he was referring to. It was very good keeping and something we never got from our previous keeper.

 

[Dec9003]

His kicking was good overall yesterday, a couple went out of play but they’re not all going to be pinpoint when you are being pressed. He’s an upgrade on what we had with De Gea given they’re both error prone.

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

Liverpool away last season with DDG in goal we faced 8 shots on target and conceded 7.

Liverpool away this season with Onana in goal we faced 8 shots on target conceded 0.

Caf: Onana is shite, should’ve never got rid of DDG!!

 

[Pickle85]

Liverpool away last season with DDG in goal we faced 8 shots on target and conceded 7.

Liverpool away this season with Onana in goal we faced 8 shots on target conceded 0.

Caf: Onana is shite, should’ve never got rid of DDG!!

Without wishing to take away from Onana's performance yesterday, as he was decent, this sort of post shows exactly why statistics can be next to useless when wielded inexpertly or by folks with an agenda.

 

[ash_86]

He was very good yesterday. Had one or two nervy moments but he helped to beat their initial press every single time. As the game grew, he was very confident and added composure to our Backline who were quite good yesterday. I wish we could get back our Defenders and start pairing them for a string of games.

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

Without wishing to take away from Onana's performance yesterday, as he was decent, this sort of post shows exactly why statistics can be next to useless when wielded inexpertly or by folks with an agenda.

I know there’s far more to it than simply changing the two goalkeepers but that post is there simply as a reminder to all those still moaning about his performance yesterday. What else could he have done?