Jamie Carragher has recalled a “horrible” error he committed for Liverpool in revealing his sympathy for Manchester United’s under-performing goalkeeper Andre Onana.
The Cameroonian stopper has endured a nightmare start to life at Old Trafford since a big-money move from Inter Milan. Onana has dropped a series of clangers with the latest coming as the Red Devils let a 3-1 lead slip to Galatasaray.
That result has left United's Champions League hopes hanging by a thread ahead of their final group game against Bayern Munich. Carragher has weighed in on Onana’s troubles and has recounted a period when he felt similar after a shocking mistake against West Ham in 2008.
Writing in his Telegraph column, the former Liverpool star said: “Many of us have been there after a poor game, knowing your contribution has been decisive to the outcome of a match. The game was meandering to a goalless draw. We had a corner in the last minute, West Ham broke away on counter-attack and in chasing Freddie Ljungberg I clipped him and gave away a penalty.
“Mark Noble scored, West Ham won 1-0 and the trip home was horrendous, sitting there believing the defeat was solely down to me. After ten years in the Liverpool first team, there was some consolation from having credit in the bank.
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“No-one was suggesting it should be the end of my Anfield career. Nevertheless, it was a horrible feeling and not a word could be said to improve my mood. Onana must have felt similarly lonely at full-time and on the plane back to Manchester on Wednesday night. It is not a good place to be but Ten Hag must be concerned moving forward.”
Since the Galatasaray draw, Onana has been considering drastic action in order to get his stuttering career back on track. It was claimed that he could snub a call-up to the Cameroon squad for the African Cup of Nations to keep his number one status for his club.
The Red Devils have Turkish stopper Altay Bayindir in reserve and he was expected to step into the team in Onana’s absence, despite not yet playing a minute for the first team.
The latter has made 20 appearances for United so far this season and has seven clean sheets to his name but has also conceded an eye-watering 33 goals. He will hope to retain Erik ten Hag’s trust this weekend. Man United are back in Premier League action on Saturday evening as they travel to St James’ Park for a showdown with Newcastle.