‘Is Onana an upgrade on de Gea?’

Nat Hayward, BBC Sport

A small sample size, yes, but some Manchester United fans are already asking the question ‘Is Andre Onana an upgrade on David de Gea?’

After Wednesday’s 4-3 defeat at Bayern Munich in their Champions League opener, United have now conceded 14 goals in all competitions this season, the most of any Premier League side.

Having arrived in Manchester with a reputation built on being comfortable on the ball and having an excellent passing range, Onana’s shot stopping and reactions were also considered strengths – as shown during Inter Milan’s run to the Champions League final last year.

In the first six games of his United career, however, he has faced 38 shots on target and conceded 14 goals, registering a save percentage of 65.8%.

De Gea, in comparison, ended last season with a save percentage of 73.5% in domestic and European competition – then initially agreed a contract extension with the club before the framework of the deal was changed by United and the Spaniard left Old Trafford.

In terms of post-shot expected goals (PSxG) – which takes the quality of the shot and combines it with its placement and difficulty of making a save – Onana’s 14 goals conceded is 1.2 goals over his PSxG of 12.8.

In De Gea’s last United season he conceded 61 goals from a PSxG of 52.2 – essentially conceding 8.8 goals more than would be expected – in a campaign where he conceded seven to Liverpool, six to Manchester City and four to Brentford.

If Onana was to continue as he has started the season, and conceded the same PSxG as De Gea, he would concede 57 goals. While slightly better than De Gea, given the humiliations United suffered at points, this would not constitute a marked improvement in what is supposed to be an improving and developing team.

Now, this comes with caveats in that Onana’s sample size is much smaller – and his one European match has been away at Bayern in the Champions League – while De Gea’s United were only competing in the Europa League.

Additionally, the Cameroon international’s impact on the Red Devil’s ability to play out from the back can already be seen with his 77.9% pass completion rate and 44 passes attempted per match compared to De Gea’s 72.6% and 29 respectively.

But, given his fortune not to concede a penalty against Wolves on debut and last night’s howler to let Leroy Sane’s opener squirm under his arms, it is fair to say Onana has not been the immediate upgrade many United fans hoped and thought he would be.

At least with his hands.

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