Erik ten Hag believes André Onana’s form since joining Manchester United has been affected by the club’s defensive injuries.
The Cameroon international has started every match since signing for €40m from Internazionale in July but rarely gets to play in front of the same back four in consecutive games. Onana has conceded 22 goals in 11 appearances and will be aiming for a third clean sheet of the season against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Saturday.
Ten Hag will be without Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martínez and Casemiro. “Every time you have a different defensive line in front of you, it is not helpful,” the manager said. “You do not get the routines. That is a problem but you have to deal with it – that is the situation we are in. It did not help with his integration. Sometimes there are different combinations who have not played so often together, so sometimes you get hesitation and in such details opponents take benefits from it.”
Onana has made high-profile mistakes, most noticeably away to Bayern Munich, but he is deemed to have the character to cope with it. After the 4-3 Champions League defeat in Germany he insisted on speaking to the press to acknowledge his errors. “He knows, we know, he will do much better,” Ten Hag said. “Every player who’s coming into the Premier League, you need an integration period, but he has to step up.”
Victor Lindelöf will be available after an emotionally draining week. The centre-back captained Sweden for their match with Belgium on Monday, which was abandoned at half-time after two Swedish fans were shot dead in Brussels.
“It’s a terrible situation and I’m sad for the victims and the relatives, the family and friends of the victims there in Brussels,” said Ten Hag. “It’s a crazy world. Of course, Victor had a problem, it was a bad experience. With the Sweden national team, he is the captain, he had to stay in front and give statements, but he dealt with it.
“He’s exhausted after it. He didn’t sleep overnight, but he returned and yesterday he was back in training.”
Jadon Sancho will be absent after Ten Hag confirmed there was no change in the winger’s situation. Sancho is training with the under-18s after hitting back at his manager’s claim that he was dropped for United’s match against Arsenal last month because of his poor performance in training. Sancho’s teammates have urged him to apologise, which would give him the chance to be reintegrated into the squad.
