Ferdinand tells Man Utd players how to help Onana and recalls De Gea’s struggles
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Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand says the club's senior players need to rally behind struggling goalkeeper Andre Onana – just like he and his team-mates did with David De Gea.
The Cameroonian goalkeeper has endured a difficult start to life at Old Trafford since Erik ten Hag’s side parted with £47.2million to sign him from Inter Milan. He has already made high profile errors in Champions League losses to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray, both of which proved to be decisive.
His start to life at United has been compared to that of his predecessor De Gea, who also made many glaring errors in his debut campaign, before going on to become one of their greatest goalkeepers. However, Ferdinand, who is now a pundit for TNT Sports, believes that with the right support from his team-mates and manager, Onana can get through this period in the same way the Spaniard did.
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When asked if United players rallied around De Gea during his difficult days, Ferdinand, who was speaking on behalf ofTNT Sports – the exclusive home of the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League – said: "Yeah, I think that's why probably me and David have still got a relationship now because I think those moments there, it's about the experienced players making the young ones feel confident.
"When they're making good plays, it's just reassuring them. When they're making a mistake, it's not berating them. Sometimes there's going to be times when you have to berate someone like that. But when you know they're young and they're fragile, like David was, you have got to box clever around those situations.
"He wasn't one for being talked to for a long period of time, he wanted to feel that his team-mates had the confidence and I think that's a big thing. If your teammates have got confidence in you, it's almost like: ‘f*** what anyone else has said because I know the people that really matter and are around me, have confidence in me’.
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“I think that's what the players, the experienced players at Man United now have to rally around.” The only difference between the two United goalkeepers’ situation is that Onana arrived with significantly more experience than De Gea. He had recently played in the Champions League final with Inter Milan and also boasted a trophy cabinet containing a Serie A title, three Eredivisie titles with Ajax and two Dutch Cups.
While the success is hard to question, Ferdinand also believes Onana already has the resilience to play and save his way out of the predicament he is in. "He [Onana] seems like quite a confident kid to be fair,” Ferdinand added. “I've spoken to him a couple of times before the Burnley game, especially on the pitch before the game.
"He seemed confident, mistakes are part of it. He understands that, but we have to remember as well, he's not a goalkeeper that hasn't had these moments before. He's made mistakes before and came back and played for Milan in the Champions League final, played for Ajax in the Champion League semi-final.
He's got the experience of making mistakes, rebuilding and going again. I think he's made of the right stuff and speaking to the staff there, that's what they talk about. You can tell he's got the character to ride something like this.”
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