Forgotten Man United player praises ‘remarkable’ £47m star – “He receives too much criticism”

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard has praised one “remarkable” player and claimed he has received too much criticism.

Many have forgotten that, at one point, Lindegaard was challenging David de Gea for the number-one spot at United under Sir Alex Ferguson.

The Dane spent four years at Old Trafford before departing on a free contract to West Brom in 2015. He retired in 2023 after playing for Swedish club Helsingborgs IF.

Despite not having the success at United that he would’ve hoped, Lindegaard made 29 appearances for the club and won two Premier League titles.

He knows the pressure that is needed to be a goalkeeper at Old Trafford and has spoken about the newest shot-stopper, André Onana, after a mixed first season at the club.

The Cameroon international signed for United last summer for around £47 million from Inter Milan, and while he had a shaky start, particularly in the Champions League, he slowly improved and was one of the club’s better performers during the second half of the season.

Lindegaard feels that his fellow goalkeeper has handled the pressure well and even suggested that Onana received too much criticism in his first season at the club because he brings a different skill set than De Gea.

“I think Onana has done very well, in terms of handling it [the pressure],” the 40-year-old told club media ahead of United’s Legends game against Celtic.

“I think he got a lot of criticism. I think he got too much as well. People should try to understand what it is that he was brought to Manchester United for.

“He was not brought to Manchester United to just make world-class saves and bail the team out, as we have been used to a little bit with David De Gea.

“He was brought to Manchester United because he has world-class feet. He is a top-three goalkeeper in the planet with his feet in terms of distribution, in terms of passing the ball out, setting up play.

“I think he found himself in a good place and a good state by the end of the season and I can assure you that he will have been a lot stronger by the end of the season than he was at the start.

“He has taken in a lot of experience that is going to benefit him for his further career at Manchester United. I just hope he is given the chance to really showcase how brilliant he is with his feet.”

The former United shot-stopper makes a great point. Onana’s skillset is completely different from what fans were used to with De Gea for over a decade.

The problem last season was that due to the team’s performances, you could not see the best of those skills. Hopefully, with improvements as a team, we will be able to see Onana shine more next term.

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