Carragher claims Man Utd struggler would 'never feature again' if he was a youth player

The goalkeeper made two more huge gaffes against Galatasaray (Pictures: Getty)

Jamie Carragher has slammed Andre Onana’s performance in Manchester United’s Champions League draw with Galatasaray, even claiming he ‘would not feature again’ were he not a £47million signing.

The Cameroon international made two huge errors in Istanbul on Wednesday night for Gala’s first two goals, befuddled by a pair of relatively tame free-kicks, while United legend Paul Scholes also felt he was at fault for the hosts’ leveller too.

Onana has made a number of mistakes since swapping Inter for Old Trafford in the summer, transmitting a nervousness into a back-line that has shipped 14 goals in five Champions League matches – a record for a Premier League side in the competition.

Carragher believes his latest gaffes were so bad that, had a youth-team player made them, they would never play for the club again, while he has also suggested that Sir Alex Ferguson would ditch Onana regardless of the massive summer outlay.

Writing in his column for The Telegraph, Carragher said: ‘Onana cost the team home and away against Galatasaray and was poor against Bayern Munich in the opening group game.

‘Yes, he made a last-minute penalty save against Copenhagen at Old Trafford, but the numerous minuses far outweigh that one positive.

‘The performance in Turkey was unacceptable for a Manchester United goalkeeper. You would not expect an Under-18 keeper to make the basic handling error for Galatasaray’s second goal.

Onana had a night to forget in Istanbul on Wednesday (Picture: Getty)

‘If a youth keeper was promoted and played like Onana on Wednesday evening, he would probably never feature for the first team again.

‘Onana has cost United too many cheap goals. The hope that the worst was behind him after a poor start to his Old Trafford career has been blown out of the water and Wednesday was a huge step backwards.

‘Onana has already developed a reputation for being a liability. That will take a long time to overcome and reverse.

‘On a personal level, I feel sorry for him. The criticism is not intended to be cruel. It is a reflection of the standards expected at the top of the professional game. You cannot play for Manchester United and avoid this level of scrutiny, especially when the stakes are as high as they were in Istanbul. Huge fixtures are settled by small margins.’

He continued: ‘Ten Hag must be concerned moving forward.

‘No manager understood the importance of a reliable goalkeeper more than Sir Alex Ferguson. Ten Hag might ask himself, “What would Fergie do?” and there is plenty of material to guide him.

‘From Jim Leighton through to Massimo Taibi, Mark Bosnich and Fabian Barthez, Ferguson was ruthless when he believed his keeper was costing games. It did not matter if he signed the number one, even for a decent fee. You either met the required level or you were out.’

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