Erik ten Hag has praised Altay Bayindir’s adaption to life at Manchester United but is in no hurry to throw the goalkeeper into the team despite another gaffe-strewn performance from Andre Onana.
Galatasaray’s first two goals in Wednesday’s 3-3 draw in Istanbul can be attributed to the mistakes of the Cameroonian player, putting Manchester United’s aspirations of reaching the knockout stages in a precarious position.
Erik ten Hag‘s side initially secured a two-goal lead, but their advantage diminished when Hakim Ziyech’s seemingly mild free-kick fooled Onana. Onana, having taken a significant step to his left, couldn’t recover as the ball sailed down the middle of the goal. In the second half, Scott McTominay reinstated United’s two-goal lead, only for them to be thwarted in nearly the same manner.
On this occasion, a more expansive free-kick from Ziyech somehow slipped beneath Onana and found the back of the net, followed by Kerem Akturkoglu completing Gala’s comeback shortly after. Despite criticism from United legend Scholes directed at the goalkeeper, Ten Hag refrained from blaming Onana for relinquishing the lead.
Furthermore, he has resisted the calls to introduce fellow summer signing Bayindir but hinted at the possibility of giving him a chance in the future if he continues to progress. Responding to a Turkish journalist’s inquiry about why he hasn’t played the former Fenerbahce shot-stopper, especially in light of Onana’s recent performance, Ten Hag stated:
‘We are very happy with our keeper group, with Andre, with Altay and also Tom.
A very good keeper group. As a group they do really well, they have good performances and they have to push each other.
‘So we are very pleased with Altay, he gets used to the Premier League, he gets used to European football – which is tough when you’re coming from Turkey.
‘But we are very pleased with that process, he’s doing very well.
‘He has to be patient, but if he works well, if he keeps his progress, he will get his chances and then he has to take this.’