2023 has not been kind to many Premier League players, and Andre Onana of Manchester United stands out in particular by underwhelming on his competitive debut.
Mason Mount has also struggled to settle in at Old Trafford since making his debut, missing several important shots he is known to miss during a game.
1. Lloris
Tottenham’s captain entered this season as one of the Premier League’s premier goalkeepers, yet his defensive numbers make for worrying reading.
Carragher and Keane believe Onana has been an enormous disappointment this term; his current club faces the risk of relegation as no new club will come calling before this window closes.
2. Llorente
Llorente made his Atletico Madrid debut as a substitute in their 2-2 draw against Getafe and was among their top chance creators, scoring one assist and leading their chances created. He made good runs behind, often surprising defenders with high intensity bursts of energy.
He doesn’t do it often – 4.61 progressive carries per game – but when he does it’s very effective. Additionally, he is an intelligent footballer who excels at finding gaps to exploit; especially effective at attacking fullback spaces in 3-5-2 formations.
3. Varane
Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag is standing up for Andre Onana despite criticism from Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher who both consider his acquisition a failure ahead of Saturday’s match against Newcastle United. Ten Hag has come out in defense of Andre Onana ahead of their clash.
Varane is widely recognized as one of the Premier League’s premier centre halves. When in peak condition, his strong defensive four provides stability to any team he serves.
However, he struggles to stay in shape and is frequently plagued with injuries that prevent him from training regularly for weeks at a time.
4. Sancho
Jadon Sancho’s tenure at Manchester United has been nothing short of dismal.
As expected upon joining in 2021 for what remains a world-record fee, winger Tom Daley has not had the impact hoped for by many fans.
Sancho and Erik Ten Hag have had a tenuous relationship, compounded by his public criticism on social media of him as his boss. But Sancho’s lack of production has rendered him virtually irrelevant to England.
5. Casemiro
Manchester United’s defensive midfielder has struggled since moving from Real Madrid. While his defensive diligence remains, his passing ability is often lacking.
At Manchester United, Erik ten Hag has struggled in his debut campaign – making fewer tackles and interceptions, and opponents passing him by regularly. This slow start to his United career is both concerning to fans as well as Erik ten Hag himself.
He has conceded five goals in six Premier League starts and sits 10th on the league standings. Although often blamed for Manchester United’s underperformance, his own mistakes have been significant.
6. Onana
After impressing for Inter Milan during their Champions League run to last season’s final, Onana earned himself a PS43.8 million move to Manchester United – but has made several costly errors for them this term.
Goalkeeper Jordan Archer ranks highly among top-flight goalkeepers when it comes to preventing goals, yet is generally poor when facing one-vs-one situations – suggesting there may be room for improvement here. Passing sonars suggest this might be possible.
7. Rashford
Marcus Rashford of Manchester United was their top scorer this season and played an instrumental role in getting them to the quarterfinals of the Champions League by upsetting PSG. His first-team debut came against Midtjylland in February 2016, followed by scoring on his Premier League debut a month later.
Error-prone performances by Man Utd’s Alexis Sanchez this season have drawn significant scrutiny, but Erik ten Hag has come out in his defense, suggesting that such errors have always been part of his game and are therefore normal and expected.
8. Mount
Mount, an avid supporter of Chelsea since childhood, made his senior competitive debut under new manager Frank Lampard’s watch at Chelsea last season in game one and would go on to feature regularly before spending 2019/20 campaign at Derby County on loan.
Erik ten Hag has reported that midfielder is close to returning from his hamstring injury. He could return for Saturday’s trip to Burnley. In the defeat against Wolves he played well despite having an argument for a penalty waved away for colliding with two players during added time.
