‘We didn’t need to replace De Gea’: Ten Hag blamed for letting De Gea leave the club

Manchester United fan and YouTuber Mark Goldbridge has blamed Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag for Andre Onana’s poor form.

‘The United We Stand’ presenter insists the club shouldn’t have replaced David de Gea who many saw as the problem in the team.

Speaking on talkSPORT radio, Mark Goldbridge said: “I really do like Andre Onana but it [his transfer] was mistake. It’s a mistake. I don’t like saying I told you so but so many people were clipping David De Gea up last season.

“They were saying he’s a problem in the team. This, that, and the other. He’s not a problem in the team. Manchester United have conceded 10 goals in five games. They’re averaging two goals per game with Onana, going in.

“De Gea was not a problem in the team. Last season he had 17 clean sheets. We only conceded nine goals at home last season. We’ve conceded, what, five already at home. That’s over half in two games. People need to wake up.

“We didn’t need to replace De Gea. The defence worked. Yes, De Gea can’t play out from the back but did we need to replace the Golden Glove winner who was hardly conceding goals and the defence was solid? We had a strong defence.

“We’ve broken the defence up for a ball-playing goalkeeper when we don’t have a ball-playing team. I back Erik ten Hag but I think he did that too soon. I think they knew De Gea was out of contract and thought, ‘let’s save a bit of money’.

“But they spent £45 million that could have been spent elsewhere. It was a really silly thing to do. That defence does not look anywhere near as solid as it did last year, and for what? Everything we built last season has disappeared.”

Ten Hag’s decision not to renew De Gea’s contract this summer, forcing him to leave on a free transfer after 12 years has been heavily criticized.