Rúben Amorim has opened up on the possibility of reinstating André Onana to the starting XI as Manchester United face Lyon on Thursday evening.
After a first leg that saw Manchester United held in France due to two Andre Onana errors, Ruben Amorim saw an away trip to Newcastle as the time for change as he dropped Onana completely.
This resulted in back-up Altay Bayindir being handed his first Premier League appearance, whilst Onana was left at home, causing a lot of speculation around the Europa League second leg.
Amorim’s faith in Bayindir wasn’t rewarded however, as his side suffered a second half capitulation, leading to a 4-1 loss to The Magpies.
Whilst The Turkish international wasn’t directly to blame for the first three goals, it was his stray pass out from the back to Joelinton that handed Newcastle their fourth.
Onana or Bayindir to start vs Lyon?
In Amorim’s post-match interview, one of the key questions that he had to answer for was his reasonings behind leaving usual first choice keeper, Onana, out of the squad.
Amorim stated, “I left him [Onana] at home [today] because any situation of the game, the cameras would be on him and he was not playing, he [would be] on the bench but feeling the pressure, feeling the moment. So, for me, it was one thing or another – you play or you stay at home. It was my choice.”
Regarding Thursday’s season-defining second leg against Olympique Lyonnais, many have questioned whether Amorim will reinstall his faith in Onana. When asked, Amorim was coy in his reply: “We are going to prepare to choose the best XI that we think can win.”
With the Europa League being all that is left to play for in United’s season, Thursday spells an incredibly important fixture, one in which The Red’s will need to avoid any goalkeeping catastrophes if they are to progress.
Team selection headache vs Lyon?
It appears that for Amorim, there is not only a goalkeeping headache heading into Thursday, but an attacking headache too.
Sunday’s heavy defeat to Newcastle unfortunately saw first leg goalscorer Joshua Zirkzee pick up an injury, that will rule him out of the second leg, leaving Amorim with only Rasmus Hojlund in terms of senior strikers.
Amorim’s selection vs Newcastle seemed to leave a lot of the usual starters out of the XI, with the likes of Patrick Dorgu, Kobbie Mainoo, Casemiro, Luke Shaw, and Harry Maguire all being left on the bench.
This begs the questions, were these starters given rest with Thursday in mind, and if so, will the likes of Mainoo and Shaw be ready to go from the off?
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