Credit where it’s due. Been a different beast since the pen save vs Copenhagen.
24
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 46
- Clean sheets
- 12
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 6
I know what you mean but that's not down to Onana but rather the players infront of him. We didn't have a CB today who actively wants the ball when the press is applied by the opposition. Lindelof was so poor against the press in the first half that he was losing his composure in possession where we were fortunate Everton didn't capitalise on his inability against both the press and Everton's physicality where their striker was winning duels against him far too comfortably in the first half.
You can't control a game of football if the opponent's high pressure tactics unhinge the CB. Onana hanging on to the ball is a baiting tactic which is widely utilised by many coaches against coordinated pressing structures but unfortunately we don't have CBs who have the courage to actively want the ball in tight spaces. And that's the reason the ball keeps going back to the keeper against any half decent pressing team. You only control a midfield if the GK, CBs, fullbacks and deeper lying midfielders all combine together or else the opponent will cause severe disruption to the build up. So it's no surprise that the 4141 build up is a thing.
Onana had a good game but I was extremely happy to see Kobbie Mainoo have a good game when there was clear problems behind him in the first half, which meant it was difficult to control the game.
We can't go long to the front 3 we played today, they're all terrible in the air. Holding it and waiting for the defenders and Mainoo to create some space so we can build up makes sense to me. Also would help if the other mid wanted to get on the ball in our half, but it was McTominay.
Made the saves he needed to make, which is what you have to demand of a keeper at this level. But it’s safe to say that the “transformation” of our attacking play starting from the keeper has yet to commence.
we need Lisandro back for this transformation to start.
That was a performance similar to when De Gea was unstoppable at times.
Happy for him.
Happy for him.
Indeed he can't go long but he squandered plenty of chances to pass to the fullbacks in space because he was waiting for the forwards to press him, he also had a number of chances to thow out quickly and didn't
MOTM for me. Until the 0-2 we were not the best team on the pitch, but he kept us alive and well.
He is doing very well lately and shutting some mouths. I hope he can keep it up.
But we are still performing very poorly in defense. Conceding such high xGs against the likes of Everton is unacceptable...
But we are still performing very poorly in defense. Conceding such high xGs against the likes of Everton is unacceptable...
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xG is such a weird stat. I don’t recall that many chances that Everton created where I say oooh unlucky not to score. Maybe the shot that hit the bar?
It's a shit stat like most of them are
1st half they had a ton of chances.
And then they technically missed a sitter in injury time at the end of that game from that scramble off a corner.
I do like this guy , he has been good.
Yeah we were poor yesterday, a few outstanding performances including Onana's won us the game without really doing a lot to deserve it. Some of his saves were incredibly high level, I think the double save where he gets up and makes himself big was my favourite but the one near the end of the game was the sort de Gea would be proud of..
His shot stopping is a lot better than I thought, he's massively improving week on week, Onana has turned out to be a good signing. I was extremely critical earlier on but as with so many players that take a little time to bed in he's shut me right up. Yesterday was one of those occasions I can't help thinking we would have lost last season without Onana.
To be fair Everton were always going to be fired up for yesterday, and their fans made it a proper cauldron so it couldn't have been easy. That's the sort of game you need your keeper to step up sometimes to get anything out of it.
I've noticed that some tend to use xG to inform how they feel after a game. Pre the 'modern era' we would have games where we win 0-3 away and just be generally happy about it, but nowadays unless the team has a perfect xg and 70% possession they will get no credit. I also blame that fecking barca team with Xavi, Iniesta and Messi as people have seen that and set it as an attainable standard rather than the miracle it was.
It's a shame because xG can be quite useful when used in conjunction with other tools (eyes and brain).
2nd in the league for most amount of saves. A weird stat, great for the keeper but shows the team up defensively.
We certainly saw signs of it, thanks to Mainoo, but until Onana has more than one footballer in front of him who can take the ball on the half turn and is comfortable in possession in tight spaces then it’s going to be a work in progress. The return of Martinez will make a big difference, wait and see.
He’s been in excellent form of late. Like many, I was very concerned early on, but credit to him he is turning it around game on game. He’s a bit unorthodox in style but is keeping the ball out.
McT was playing really high at some points also. Seemed like it was a deliberate tactic in the first half.
Second half, much better build up, less of the hoofing.
Agree with this. Shaw coming back also helped.
He's also tied 1st with Alisson for save percentage with 78.8%, which is more impressive for Onana as he's showing it over a greater amount of shots faced!
Teams who want to play out from the back and have keepers who are good on the ball actively try to encourage the opposition to press the keeper. The keeper tries to draw an opposition player to them, as that player is then out of position as they pass the ball around them and create a numbers overload. It's a tactic that plenty of teams use.
It's not really working for us so far, but I presume the 'dithering' as you put it is designed to do that. We just aren't creating the movement or the space to take advantage of it, but hopefully that will come.
Onana was at fault for five goals in the first eight or so games, but since then he's been fine to good. I don't think he's had a 'great' game yet, but give me a solid/good any day over the occasional great.
Highest number of clean sheets in the Prem, joint with Pope I think
Agreed, but there’s one aspect of Onana’s footwork that’s pretty daft — standing on the ball until an attacker approaches him. You gotta love his confidence but inviting pressure rather than moving the ball quickly does us no favors.
It’s a deliberate tactic to draw a forward out of position and create spaces to beat the press. Watch the Brighton keeper. He does exactly the same thing.
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It's a very simple concept that is very easy to understand.
What's the point in drawing in a player to press, so someone else can drop into that space and take the ball?
He should be booting it aimlessly down field or out for a throw as soon as it comes to him. Gain some yards and fight for the second balls and box them in on the throws.
I was critical cause he was really poor, but credit where it is due and I see it was purely confidence issue. Very happy for him bouncing back. He will soon be great with his passing too - that will be next level 
Also joint second in the league on post-shot xG, just to add to the positive stats floating around.
His short range passing is comforting compared to what we're used to. It looks unremarkable because there's no drama, but there's a real class to his passing. He isn't just pinging it at the only free man in sight, he's assessing options and he's prepared to play a harder pass if the person receiving it is in a better spot. He's also passing it with the right weight and angle to make it easier for our player to move it on, and I notice he sometimes pases to space, not always to feet. For ages we've been susceptible to a pressing trap on either full back, because our goalie could only play easy passes and it was easy to railroad us into that one pass. Nice to see that on the turn.
Not sure about his long range passing, which is a mixed bag. The entire defense is doing it, and I think it might be the same tactic that Klopp did with Liverpool at first and Poch did when he was at Spurs, ie go for a long ball, but if it fails and they get the ball, go for an immediate counter press. However while our press is ok in general, its not really working when challenging for long balls we've lost because our front line aren't good enough to do it alone. Either way, I'm leaning towards it being a tactic from the boss rather than a decision from the keeper.
His short range passing is comforting compared to what we're used to. It looks unremarkable because there's no drama, but there's a real class to his passing. He isn't just pinging it at the only free man in sight, he's assessing options and he's prepared to play a harder pass if the person receiving it is in a better spot. He's also passing it with the right weight and angle to make it easier for our player to move it on, and I notice he sometimes pases to space, not always to feet. For ages we've been susceptible to a pressing trap on either full back, because our goalie could only play easy passes and it was easy to railroad us into that one pass. Nice to see that on the turn.
Not sure about his long range passing, which is a mixed bag. The entire defense is doing it, and I think it might be the same tactic that Klopp did with Liverpool at first and Poch did when he was at Spurs, ie go for a long ball, but if it fails and they get the ball, go for an immediate counter press. However while our press is ok in general, its not really working when challenging for long balls we've lost because our front line aren't good enough to do it alone. Either way, I'm leaning towards it being a tactic from the boss rather than a decision from the keeper.
I'm still in the camp he's gone from being completely inept to looking decent - not exactly sold on him yet but positive steps so i'll take it.
The ball is going to keep coming back at us when we have Rashford (who must have lost the ball 90% of the time and as usual walking around) and Bruno playing kamikaze, which he wasn’t really yesterday? Once the CB - CM partnerships settle down we will be much better at avoiding the press but our attackers need to find some chemistry fast. I believe it’s impossible with Rashford like this
He was always going to get back to his form after nervios start but knee jerk Andies couldn't wait to call him terrible, worst signing and rest of clownish bollocks.
Good observation. I noticed that too. There are a few outfield players who could learn from him in this regard.
Never in doubt.
This isn’t the 90s any more. Route 1 football doesn’t work.
Ah now, our players are all very adept at passing into space. Unfortunately that space tends to be behind the player they’re trying to pick out.