Man Utd legend Andy Cole aims dig at Andre Onana

Manchester United legend Andy Cole was critical of Andre Onana after his debut against Real Madrid.

On Wednesday, United fell to a 2-0 defeat against Los Blancos at the NRG Stadium in Houston, courtesy of spectacular goals from Jude Bellingham and Joselu.

Starting between the sticks for United was Onana, who impressed with the ball at his feet and pulled off two solid saves during the encounter.

Last week Onana, who cost United £47.2million, put pen to paper on a five year deal with the option of a further year, replacing David de Gea who left Old Trafford this summer after over a decade as first choice.

The Spaniard had been criticised for his inability to play out from the back ahead of his departure, a trait that Onana excels in.

Having spent time at both Barcelona and Ajax’s academy, Onana is extremely comfortable on the ball, as shown during his United debut. Against Real, Onana had 51 touches, completed 39 passes, and registered a pass completion rate of 95.1 per cent.

However Cole, who scored 93 goals for United from 1995 to 2001, was critical of Onana’s first appearance for United.

Cole on Onana

Speaking to MUTV (via @UtdDistrict on Twitter), Cole criticised Onana for Real’s opener, after Bellingham audaciously chipped the debutant.

Cole said: "I don't care if you can do 10 kick-ups, a goalkeeper needs to be able to save the ball.”

The 51 year old later added: "The manager has changed the way he wants to play from the back. He wants to play with a goalkeeper who is comfortable with the ball at his feet. This is the case with Onana."

However, Ten Hag was full of praise for Onana after the Real outing. The Dutchman said, via the Mirror: “I think he was good, solid. He made two very good saves, so he was there in the moment the team needed him, he did his job, he integrated well into our team.

“This is the first game [with Onana] and we have a lot of work to do, on the defending part. For the second goal, we were not close at the back post, and it can't be that a goal can come there.

“There are rules we have to follow, but they will come quickly in the way that we integrate them into our way of play.”

Topics: Football, Transfers, Premier League, Andre Onana, Manchester United, Real Madrid

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.