Ruben Amorim has told under-fire Andre Onana to “forget the past” as Manchester United’s goalkeeper looks to put recent wobbles behind him.
Signed to much fanfare six weeks after his standout display in Inter Milan’s narrow 2023 Champions League final defeat to Manchester City, the 28-year-old went on to endure a chastening start to life at Old Trafford.
Onana said he felt like he had fallen from being the best goalkeeper in the world during that error-ridden period, but the £47.2million man was one of United’s better players in the second half of last season.
Yet questions remain over David De Gea’s replacement, with the volume only growing after Jaden Philogene capitalised on his early mix up with Patrick Dorgu and then beat him with a cross in the 3-2 win against Ipswich.
Onana will have another chance to prove his worth when Fulham arrive in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday as back-up goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and third-choice Tom Heaton remain injured.
“I think he passed this (stage) in the last year,” the head coach said. “I don’t know for sure. There was some difficult moments.
“But this season he did some great saves that save our team and then sometimes has some problems.
“But that is normal and I think if you look through our team you can find a lot of players with that issue, so I think we are not performing so well as a team and sometimes some players have problems.
“People talk a lot about the second goal from Ipswich. He is waiting for the touch of (Liam) Delap. I think that is really clear, and then the ball continues to the goal, so that can happen.
“We just have to support Andre, like we support all the players, and prepare the next game. Forget about the past and prepare the future.”
United dug deep to secure the much-needed Premier League win against Ipswich on Wednesday, when they had to play the second half with 10 men after Dorgu’s sending off just before half-time.
The recent arrival from Lecce saw red for a high challenge on Omari Hutchinson and starts a three-match domestic ban as Fulham arrive at Old Trafford.
“It’s like business as usual, like no big deal,” Amorim said of the fallout to the 20-year-old’s sending off. “Of course, you don’t want to (him) sent off because it’s really hard to play with 10 men, then we lose the player for three games.
“Of course, there is a lot of noise. This is, like I said before, Manchester United. Everything is a big issue, but for me it’s a normal thing.
“He already knows. You go inside the dressing room, he knows. He’s talking with me without talking, so I don’t need to say anything.
“He’s frustrated and he is sad, but he’s working in preparing the next games, and we have so many games.
“We have then on Thursday another game (against Real Sociedad in the Europa League), so he’ll be ready for those games, and we wait for him because he’s going to be a very important player for us.”
In addition to Dorgu, Bayindir and Heaton, United remain without Lisandro Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo and Amad Diallo.
Amorim also indicated that Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Jonny Evans and Toby Collyer remain unavailable.
