Former Manchester United player Lee Sharpe has given his ideal replacement for one of Rúben Amorim’s most problematic positions.
Manchester United are in desperate need of an overhaul in several positions following a record-low finish in the Premier League and their failure to qualify for any European competitions.
So far this summer, Ruben Amorim has focused on attacking reinforcements. The biggest problem last season was undoubtedly the lack of goals, and with a number of high-profile attackers set to leave the club, the issue will only worsen without investment in this area.
Marcus Rashford, Aledandro Garancho, Jadon Sancho and Antony are all expected to leave the club this summer, and so far, only Wolves talisman Matheus Cunha has been brought in to replace them. The club is also pursuing the signing of Brentford forward Bryan Mbuemo to help bolster the attack.
Once Mbuemo or a similar signing is completed, the club’s attention will likely shift to other areas of concern on the pitch, one of which is the goalkeeping situation. Neither first-choice keeper Andre Onana nor back-up keeper Altay Bayindir has consistently met the standard United requires, and a former United player has identified his ideal replacement.
Sharpe hands his verdict on United’s keepers
Former United player Lee Sharpe was interviewed by AceOdds about the current state of things at United and highlighted the Goalkeeper as an area that may need change, “if the opportunity comes along to upgrade and get a few quid for Onana, then I think it’s something they’ll look at”.
He went on to add, “I’m still surprised they let David de Gea go. I know his last two seasons weren’t great, but I still think they were better than what Onana has been. He pulls off good saves, but then he lets in schoolboy error goals.”
Last season, Onana committed five errors that directly led to goals in all club competitions.
Although Onana has attributes that benefit the United side, Sharpe doesn’t believe they outweigh the negatives. “I understand he’s good with his feet and it’s like having an extra player, but I think it’s costing United more than they’re gaining,” the ex-Red continued.
Sharpe then went on to suggest his ideal replacement for Onana, should Amorim decide that a change of goalkeeper is a priority.
“United have been linked with Emi Martinez, and I don’t think there’s a club in the world that wouldn’t take Martinez. I think his attitude and charisma are great, and he spreads that to his back four. He’s like Schmiechel. He makes saves he shouldn’t pull off, and he’ll earn a team 10-12 points a season.”
It has been well documented that, given the chance, Martínez would be keen to join Amorim’s side this summer.
Would replacing Onana with Martínez be an upgrade?
Martinez is a very different profile goalkeeper to Onana and excels in some of Onana’s areas of weakness. In terms of pure shot-stopping ability, the keepers are roughly on par, but it’s Martinez’s command of his penalty box that stands out
Martinez made slightly more appearances than Onana, with the former having played 37 and the latter 34, and he made 10 more saves in those extra three games. However, the United keeper had more clean sheets in the league, with nine, compared to the Villa keeper’s eight.
Onana has been criticised in the past for punching the ball away at times when he should have claimed it. Last season in the Premier League, he punched it away 13 times to Martinez’s three, but Martinez successfully claimed the ball high 56 times to Onana’s 22.
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While Onana was touted as being one of the best keepers with his feet prior to joining United, and he has boasted on numerous occasions about being a risk taker, he hasn’t achieved even half of the sweeper clearances that Martinez has, with 10 for the Cameroonian and 24 for the Argentine.
Overall, for areas of goalkeeping where Martinez has the advantage over Onana, the disparity is immense; however, in the regions where Onana shines, Martinez isn’t far behind. The only drawbacks for Martinez for his age and his disciplinary record.
If Amorim and the United backroom staff don’t view these as deal-breaking issues, then Martinez could prove to be a real asset to the United squad.
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