Let's talk 'keepers: who do we buy and why?

[Katy Cat]

He really really isn't.

Totally: he doesn't solve the problem (also Kelleher is just very improbable).

 

[The Cat]

I'd like someone who looks fecking massive in net

Can Rooney play in goal?

 

[Harry190]

Mike Maignan.

 

[Sea-Cow]

He really really isn't.

Care to elaborate? Which aspect is Onana superior? I admit I don't watch Southampton regularly but on eyeball test alone Ramsdale is the vastly superior shot stopper, which is the main thing I would want in a keeper.

I am not sure on how he does on corners and set-pieces I guess, but I can't imagine him being much worse than Onana. I can't imagine any of the other keepers in the league being much worse than Onana at most things, apart from willingness to receive passes back from defenders. Which, is something, I guess.

 

[lex talionis]

Poor Schmikes would've never survived the intense drama queen footie geniuses of the message board age. This was only his first couple of years. I recall loads of embarrassing gaffs over the years. The same would go for Gary Neville, Nemanja, etc, good lord Fletcher would've been scalped by sharp, pounding fingertips.

Good man. Peter was a great keeper, or at least was a great keeper during our peak years leading to the treble. But mythology put aside for the moment he was a machine when it came to howlers. But that pk save v Arsenal changed the course of history and how we think of him to this day. Great keeper, without question, but Van Der Sar, who had one bag game for United against boro and that was it, was an even better keeper.

 

[Sea-Cow]

Totally: he doesn't solve the problem (also Kelleher is just very improbable).

What problem are you referring to here?

I see the problem being that we have a keeper that other teams obviously feel is a joke and that they are encouraged to take more shots because of his habit of making huge errors on routine things. I would want to fix that problem by reducing the number of silly goals we concede.

 

[SilentWitness]

Care to elaborate? Which aspect is Onana superior? I admit I don't watch Southampton regularly but on eyeball test alone Ramsdale is the vastly superior shot stopper, which is the main thing I would want in a keeper.

I am not sure on how he does on corners and set-pieces I guess, but I can't imagine him being much worse than Onana. I can't imagine any of the other keepers in the league being much worse than Onana at most things, apart from willingness to receive passes back from defenders. Which, is something, I guess.

I think there is a reason Ramsdale has been at relegation threatened sides aside from Arsenal in his career. I think there is a reason Ramsdale was not so subtly shoved out from Arsenal too. He's not that good. He may have some highlight reel saves but over the course of the season he's inconsistent and erratic.

 

[Invictus]

Donnarumma. Mad that he is only just gone 25. He could solve our problems for 10 years+. He also has only 1 year left on his contract.

Dollarumma is still rather flawed and on outrageous wages. This type of manoeuvre would set a precedent, with every Manchester United player approximating his level angling for equally outrageous or even more outrageous wages. That compulsorily rules him out when we are attempting to reset the culture and streamline the wage structure of the club, unless he is willing to drastically lower his wage demands.

 

[Sea-Cow]

I think there is a reason Ramsdale has been at relegation threatened sides aside from Arsenal in his career. I think there is a reason Ramsdale was not so subtly shoved out from Arsenal too. He's not that good. He may have some highlight reel saves but over the course of the season he's inconsistent and erratic.

Fair enough, but I would argue way less inconsistent and erratic than Onana.

And I would argue that he was shoved out from Arsenal because they bought Raya, who appears to be incredible. And the Arsenal fans that I know were hardly convinced at the time, as they saw nothing wrong with Ramsdale and wanted the funds spent on other areas.

If we had the choice in signing a Ramsdale or someone that was incredible, I would go with option B of course. But I don't think that is going to be an option for United this summer, considering the other holes that need to be addressed. Thus, I suggest looking to Ramsdale as a possible cheaper option, but one that is so much better than Onana!

 

[SilentWitness]

Fair enough, but I would argue way less inconsistent and erratic than Onana.

And I would argue that he was shoved out from Arsenal because they bought Raya, who appears to be incredible. And the Arsenal fans that I know were hardly convinced at the time, as they saw nothing wrong with Ramsdale and wanted the funds spent on other areas.

If we had the choice in signing a Ramsdale or someone that was incredible, I would go with option B of course. But I don't think that is going to be an option for United this summer, considering the other holes that need to be addressed. Thus, I suggest looking to Ramsdale as a possible cheaper option, but one that is so much better than Onana!

I don't think Raya is incredible either tbh. He's a good keeper but below the level of the top top keepers.

 

[Sea-Cow]

I don't think Raya is incredible either tbh. He's a good keeper but below the level of the top top keepers.

Man I disagree. I think Raya is an excellent keeper, one of the best in the league if not the best, apart from penalty shootouts of course.

 

[SilentWitness]

Man I disagree. I think he is an excellent keeper, one of the best in the league if not the best, apart from penalty shootouts of course.

I think generally the standard of keeping has lowered. Raya is a good sweeper and has good command of his box area but think that some of his shot stopping has been overrated and he is guilty of making really daft errors when playing out from the back.

That's also the conundrum you're left in with Onana. The keepers who actually are miles better than him are a rare commodity.

 

[David_De_Heya]

Goalkeeper should be the last position in the team to focus on. Onana didn't become a poor goalkeeper overnight.

If you were to add Onana to a highly functional team, lets say Liverpool for example, all of a sudden he's in consideration for team of the season, ala Ederson when City were at the peak of their powers. This doesn't necessarily mean he's a wonderful keeper.

Instead of his errors being highly scrutinised due to United losing, the errors made in a functional team would likely lead to a goal in a 3-1 or 4-1 win for example, and quickly forgotten. Meanwhile, the 10 men in front of him who are playing in a cohesive fashion would benefit from his ball playing ability, another strength which would be more obvious in a highly functional team. At the moment, we can't score goals, so his errors are leading to losses. His errors would reduce further by having a top defence in front of him e.g. Van Dijk and Konate.

I'm not necessarily an Onana fan, but I think that the 10 men infront of the goalkeeper need to be functional and performing to the best of their abilities in order to judge the importance of a goalkeepers performances. Sort out the other 10 first, get us playing with a clear identity, scoring goals, and then decide whether Onana is good enough to win trophies here.

 

[sleepehead]

Goalkeeper should be the last position in the team to focus on. Onana didn't become a poor goalkeeper overnight.

If you were to add Onana to a highly functional team, lets say Liverpool for example, all of a sudden he's in consideration for team of the season, ala Ederson when City were at the peak of their powers. This doesn't necessarily mean he's a wonderful keeper.

Instead of his errors being highly scrutinised due to United losing, the errors made in a functional team would likely lead to a goal in a 3-1 or 4-1 win for example, and quickly forgotten. Meanwhile, the 10 men in front of him who are playing in a cohesive fashion would benefit from his ball playing ability, another strength which would be more obvious in a highly functional team. At the moment, we can't score goals, so his errors are leading to losses. His errors would reduce further by having a top defence in front of him e.g. Van Dijk and Konate.

I'm not necessarily an Onana fan, but I think that the 10 men infront of the goalkeeper need to be functional and performing to the best of their abilities in order to judge the importance of a goalkeepers performances. Sort out the other 10 first, get us playing with a clear identity, scoring goals, and then decide whether Onana is good enough to win trophies here.

I don't know, I'm not really impressed with him. He seems a bit lateral maybe slightly worse vs De Gea, we just exchanged problems. Instead of being reassuring and elite shot stopping he was shit with passing and sweeping but our defense didn't have to worry about shots just passing. Versus Onana who's not reassuring but can at least sweep and play from the back. Both are shit at long passing. Also Onana was good in the CL but not in the league in his last year at Inter. I remember hearing from fans that he wasn't as consistent in the league

 

[Zed 101]

We have a buy back on Matej Kovar, cannot believe we actually sold him bit like the Alvaro Fernandez sale, blame ETH and co, he was already better than Bayindir (and arguably Onana) when we sold him, was just relatively inexperienced, should have been here as no.2 ready to step up already.

Do not know how much the buy back is but if we want a cheap option to replace Onana then he may well be a great option, he is a top keeper in the making.

 

[trevor newnham]

I like Kovar too, but I think Vitek could be better. He is certainly getting rave reports in Austria - lower league, I know but probably has lesser defenders, thus has more to do

 

[Kingslayer18]

Zion Suzuki. He's been getting good experience and seems to handle every step up at the clubs he's gone to. He's a great passer and good shot stopper so a good all round GK. We're not likely to sell Onana right now so Suzuki can come in and be the cup keeper and then we can sell Onana a year after.

 

[DonBecks]

I'd actually be surprised if we replaced Onana this coming summer. That's not to say I think he's good enough, there are times where he looks like he's never been on a football pitch before but I do I think the staff will think they can probably achieve next season's goals with him as keeper.

I feel like Elyh Harrison is interesting. Just reading the tea leaves, I think they might see something there. Taking him back from Chester and then not loaning him out again despite League One interest, is interesting. I believe Bayandir has had a knock so that will have played a part but it's quite possible that Harrison has impressed given the low quality of keeper we currently have in the squad. I've only ever heard really good things about him, perhaps the staff think they can get by next season with Onana and try to transition to Harrison the following year if he's ready.

As a few have mentioned, there isn't a load of great keepers kicking about on the market and there are a fair few teams in need. Maybe it's a position where we can actually see what we've got at home.

 

[aeh1991]

Zion Suzuki. He's been getting good experience and seems to handle every step up at the clubs he's gone to. He's a great passer and good shot stopper so a good all round GK. We're not likely to sell Onana right now so Suzuki can come in and be the cup keeper and then we can sell Onana a year after.

Yea makes sense to replace Onana with another expensive, error-prone GK..

 

[BuzzKillington]

Poor Schmikes would've never survived the intense drama queen footie geniuses of the message board age. This was only his first couple of years. I recall loads of embarrassing gaffs over the years. The same would go for Gary Neville, Nemanja, etc, good lord Fletcher would've been scalped by sharp, pounding fingertips.

Did you watch that video before posting it? Half the stuff on there was other people playing shit balls to him. With what was left, Onana made more mistakes in a single CL campaign group for us than the entire video.

All keepers make mistakes. Onana’s issue is that even without the gaffs, he’s still incredibly average at goalkeeping whilst not being good enough in other areas to make putting up with that worthwhile.

 

[TRUE NUMBER 9]

The two big, young Czech lads, Matěj Kovář and Radek Vítek, are very promising, as is Elyh Harrison. Two of them are already United players. Sort out the defending in front of them, play Bayindir in the meantime and later, when the defending is more settled, you can try one of the two young keepers. Onana is error prone and you simply cannot go forward with him between the sticks. I would blood one or even both younger guys in a few league games later in the season. Still 14 games to go, very little to play for so nothing to lose and everything to gain by getting a proper look at some of the young talent.

 

[Rozay]

Zion Suzuki is interesting, and we have been historically interested.

 

[LukeTheRed]

If Leicester go down I would take a serious look at Mads Hermansen.

I think he will be a bargain for somebody - hes a great keeper in a shit team. He has kept leicester in many games this season.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/crm7n302l88o

 

[Lay]

Good man. Peter was a great keeper, or at least was a great keeper during our peak years leading to the treble. But mythology put aside for the moment he was a machine when it came to howlers. But that pk save v Arsenal changed the course of history and how we think of him to this day. Great keeper, without question, but Van Der Sar, who had one bag game for United against boro and that was it, was an even better keeper.

VDS made some big errors for United.

 

[CM]

Aaron Ramsdale. Southampton are getting relegated so we could maybe get him for cheap. And, he is a better goalkeeper than Onana, by miles.

He's not even close

 

[The-Mezzala]

Marco Carnesecchi .Italian keeper. Very Good reflexes and shot stopping from close range. Still only 24 so can develop but also has first team experience. Only trouble is Atalanta players usually come with a high asking price. Lots of people in Italy think he can become the National team number 1.

 

[Roboc7]

I’d sell Bayindir this summer and replace him with whoever is deemed the best out of Vitek and Harrison. One more season of Onana with whoever is second choice given opportunities in the Cup and see who emerges over next 18 months as our next number one.

 

[Remember the geese]

Good man. Peter was a great keeper, or at least was a great keeper during our peak years leading to the treble. But mythology put aside for the moment he was a machine when it came to howlers. But that pk save v Arsenal changed the course of history and how we think of him to this day. Great keeper, without question, but Van Der Sar, who had one bag game for United against boro and that was it, was an even better keeper.

The penalty save against Arsenal changes nothing in the sense that we already knew that Schmeichel had been a World Class keeper for us for many years. Also, Van der Sar was not better than him.

 

[Kingslayer18]

Yea makes sense to replace Onana with another expensive, error-prone GK..

Who says he's gonna be expensive or is error prone? He plays for Parma, unlikely to demand a massive fee

 

[aeh1991]

Who says he's gonna be expensive or is error prone? He plays for Parma, unlikely to demand a massive fee

I've seen him play. He is basically like Onana 2.0: great in one game, and then shaky in the next one. Also, with a contract until 2029 and being a young talented GK, as well as us being us, they will ask at least for 30m and it's not worth spending thag much when we have plenty of other positions to fix as well. If we want a new GK, I would go for Kovar, since we should have a cheap buy back option.

edit: I'm reading they value him at £40m. He'd be not worth that price imo.

 

[Sea-Cow]

Goalkeeper should be the last position in the team to focus on. Onana didn't become a poor goalkeeper overnight.

If you were to add Onana to a highly functional team, lets say Liverpool for example, all of a sudden he's in consideration for team of the season, ala Ederson when City were at the peak of their powers. This doesn't necessarily mean he's a wonderful keeper.

Instead of his errors being highly scrutinised due to United losing, the errors made in a functional team would likely lead to a goal in a 3-1 or 4-1 win for example, and quickly forgotten. Meanwhile, the 10 men in front of him who are playing in a cohesive fashion would benefit from his ball playing ability, another strength which would be more obvious in a highly functional team. At the moment, we can't score goals, so his errors are leading to losses. His errors would reduce further by having a top defence in front of him e.g. Van Dijk and Konate.

I'm not necessarily an Onana fan, but I think that the 10 men infront of the goalkeeper need to be functional and performing to the best of their abilities in order to judge the importance of a goalkeepers performances. Sort out the other 10 first, get us playing with a clear identity, scoring goals, and then decide whether Onana is good enough to win trophies here.

I agree with you that of course the ten players in front of him have been poor, but he has given up so many silly goals that I would say are completely his fault and that any average keeper in the league should be saving with their eyes closed.

And I have already decided he is nowhere near good enough, not for United, and not for any other team in the league.

 

[Nobby style]

Did you watch that video before posting it? Half the stuff on there was other people playing shit balls to him. With what was left, Onana made more mistakes in a single CL campaign group for us than the entire video.

All keepers make mistakes. Onana’s issue is that even without the gaffs, he’s still incredibly average at goalkeeping whilst not being good enough in other areas to make putting up with that worthwhile.

Care to elaborate on "even without the gaffs, he's still incredibly average at goalkeeping."

Guy has made some of the better saves I've ever seen from a United keeper, and his passing while not as good as I thought it would be, is also better than any other keeper we've had. Is also a good addition as a 12th out field player. He's playing on a shit United side with awful defending for the most part, filled with pathetic off field drama, in transition, and incredibly unlucky. The guy has actually been a bright spot as a player and person.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

VDS made some big errors for United.

All goalkeepers make errors, but I don’t remember VDS ever letting in goals that are from shots in the middle of the goal.

VDS brought a great deal of calm, influence and organisation to the team. Something Onana brings none of.

Onana is outstanding with his feet, but outside of that, he’s average at best at absolutely everything. He doesn’t excel at shot stopping, commanding his area, organisation, passing, catching or positioning.

 

[The-Mezzala]

Whats the buy back clause on Kovar? Agree with everyone on here was a mistake letting him go.

 

[lex talionis]

The penalty save against Arsenal changes nothing in the sense that we already knew that Schmeichel had been a World Class keeper for us for many years. Also, Van der Sar was not better than him.

Nah, the pk save v Bergkamp will forever be an iconic moment in the history of goalkeeping and without any question the greatest save of his career. He excelled in terms of command of the box and his throws, but he was not an outstanding shot stopper.

Van Der Sar was near perfection as a keeper. The saves, command of the box, his control over his defenders and his distribution were unbelievable.

 

[simonhch]

Nah, the pk save v Bergkamp will forever be an iconic moment in the history of goalkeeping and without any question the greatest save of his career. He excelled in terms of command of the box and his throws, but he was not an outstanding shot stopper.

Van Der Sar was near perfection as a keeper. The saves, command of the box, his control over his defenders and his distribution were unbelievable.

Wait, did you say Schmeichel wasn’t an outstanding shot stopper? I mean, is that serious? One of the best shot stoppers of all time. I think people, especially those who only witnessed the later years of Schmeichel’s career, forget how unbelievable he was. The save vs Rapid Vienna alone is maybe in the top three saves ever. Not only was he a sensational shot stopper, he commanded the box like no one else I’ve ever seen, and had maybe the best attacking throw ever. His one weakness was maybe his feet, in an era where that wasn’t very important. But even that said, he was decent with his feet, noted by the fact he actually scored a goal. He also played in a time where pitches were atrocious. I’m sorry but I can’t take seriously anyone who says he wasn’t a great shot stopper. Utterly insane.

 

[PSV]

Can we hijack Valles? Would be a possibly shrewd move. He hasn't played for several months, but would come at a low cost given he recently was made a free agent.

 

[Marwood]

I’d sell Bayindir this summer and replace him with whoever is deemed the best out of Vitek and Harrison. One more season of Onana with whoever is second choice given opportunities in the Cup and see who emerges over next 18 months as our next number one.

Agree. Best way forward for now given finances.

 

[LukeChadwick36]

Left field option : Kepa.
Been tremendous for Bournemouth this year.

I have thought this for a while too.

It feels realistic.

In an ideal, unrealistic world, id move mountains for Emi Martinez.

 

[Remember the geese]

Nah, the pk save v Bergkamp will forever be an iconic moment in the history of goalkeeping and without any question the greatest save of his career. He excelled in terms of command of the box and his throws, but he was not an outstanding shot stopper.

Van Der Sar was near perfection as a keeper. The saves, command of the box, his control over his defenders and his distribution were unbelievable.

Like I said, Schmeichel had been a World Class goalkeeper for years prior to that penalty save. You simply never watched Schmeichel play if you're seriously stating that he wasn't a great shot stopper. That isn't an opinion - it's flat out wrong.

Van der Sar was very good. He wasn't better than Schmeichel.