I felt Onana needed to disconnect- United boss Amorin

Photo Credit: Manchester United

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorin has explained why he dropped goalkeeper André Onana from the squad that faced Newcastle United on Sunday. The Portuguese boss said he felt the Cameroonian needed to ‘disconnect’.

In a pitchside interview with Sky Sports at St. James Park, Amorin said he rotated his squad while also looking at the psychological side of things for players such as Onana. Second-choice keeper Altay Bayındır got the nod between the sticks for his Premier League debut.

The United boss said: “Of course, you have to see the context. It is a normal thing. Sometimes, you have to push the player to play again, sometimes you have to let him disconnect a little bit.”

Amorin did not rule out the prospect of recalling Onana for the UEFA Europa League quarterfinal, second-leg match against Lyon on Thursday despite his two big blunders in the 2-2 draw in France in the first leg.

“Tomorrow, he will be in training to prepare for the next one [Lyon] so I felt that it was a good time for Andre to disconnect,” Amorin said.

Last week, the United boss had leaped to the defence of Onana after his latest show of howlers against Lyon last Thursday evening. Onana did not cover himself in glory as he messed up shots that led to both goals, the result Amorin admitted left the dressing room quiet.

United seemed to be heading for a win but Lyon’s Rayan Cherki pounced on a rebound to score in the 95th minute after Onana had failed to deal with Georges Mikautadze’s shot. Onana should have also handled the ball better with Thiago Almada’s opener which piled pressure on United before Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee scored for the visitors.

The Cameroonian received boos when he walked onto the pitch amid a verbal tirade with ex-Manchester United midfielder and current Lyon player Nemanja Matić who called the keeper the worst statistically in the club’s history.