Ex-Manchester United striker Louis Saha pulled no punches when discussing the current plight of his former club, particularly criticizing goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Ruben Amorim, now at the helm, has had a rough start, managing only six wins from 15 games, with seven losses, four of which came in the league.
A brief glimmer of hope emerged from matches against Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Southampton, but the recent 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton has cast a long shadow over the team’s capabilities.
In that match, Onana’s error was glaring, as he mishandled an easy cross, leading directly to Georginio Rutter’s goal. Since joining from Inter Milan in 2023 for 47.2 million pounds, Onana has shown his prowess with the ball at his feet but has also been responsible for numerous costly mistakes, notably ranking joint third in the Premier League for errors leading directly to goals.
Saha, in an interview with Paddy Power, expressed his frustration, stating, “There is a need for every player at Manchester United, apart from Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo, to feel threatened with competition. No one has shown that they deserve anything in the next game.
“The manager can challenge and criticise them because it’s not good enough.”
He continued, “The backbone of this team, from the back four to the centre forwards, it’s so important that they don’t make mistakes. Unless you can guarantee that you’re not going to make mistakes, you should not be considered as a guaranteed starter in any position.
“None of those players should be guaranteed anything. If you don’t have a confident goalkeeper, he has to be challenged. Those performances are unacceptable, it’s not normal!”
Amorim, speaking before the Europa League match against Rangers, addressed his earlier harsh assessment of the squad, “First of all, I want to talk about that (his comment about this Manchester United possibly being the worst-ever side in the club’s history). I was talking more for myself than from my players, because you have to find out a coach that starts a job and loses seven games in the first 10.
“So it’s more for me, I was talking more about me than the players.”
United’s immediate future includes a challenging away game against Fulham in the league, followed by the conclusion of their Europa League group stage against FCSB from Romania.
The pressure is mounting, and the call for change is loud and clear.
