Manchester United’s goalkeeper, Andre Onana, has remarked that ‘football is temporary’ and has shared his reasons for choosing not to publicly support manager Erik ten Hag.
The certainty of Ten Hag’s tenure at United is uncertain, with Graham Potter, the ex-Chelsea manager, being a strong contender for the position due to his ties with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Dan Ashworth.
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This season, Ratcliffe stepped in as United’s new minority stakeholder and assumed control of the football operations, yet he has not openly endorsed Ten Hag.
The consensus among United’s squad is that Ten Hag has come to terms with the situation and anticipates departing from Old Trafford when the season concludes.
Onana acknowledges Ten Hag’s capabilities as an elite manager but has decided against a public endorsement, stating that Ten Hag is ‘sufficiently self-reliant to advocate for himself’.
‘Football doesn’t have a memory,’ Onana told Sky Sports. ‘You deliver good today and yesterday, tomorrow you don’t deliver good and they are always going to remember what you did last. And unfortunately, you can’t change that.
‘Erik is a very good manager. I’m not here to back him because he’s already big enough to back himself.
‘He did great things for United last season. But this is football and I always say football is temporary.’
Meanwhile, Onana has thanked two of his United teammates, Tom Heaton & Altar Bayindir – for helping him through a tough spell earlier in the season.
‘We are in this together,’ Onana added. ‘I want to thank Tom, Altay [as well as goalkeeping coaches] Richard [Hartis] and Craig [Mawson].
‘It’s been a difficult time, a difficult situation, a difficult start for me. We have to protect each other, especially when things are not going good.
‘They were there with me. [They said] take your time. Most of the keepers who have been here at Manchester United had difficulty in the beginning.’
Onana has also shared his favourite United moment thus far – which came after the FA Cup quarter-final victory against Liverpool.
‘It was crazy,’ he said. ‘I was in shock. It was just beautiful to be there. The noise, it was so loud. The joy… wow!’
