If Andre Onana needed a guide on his way to salvation at Manchester United, he does not have to look beyond Joshua Zirkzee.
Onana is again under the microscope after his blunders in Lyon United have cost a Europa League leg benefit.
Sources near the Kameroen keeper stood on Friday evening that he is a strong character that has overcome difficult times at United and is aimed at playing well for the club.
But Ruben Amorim is supposed to consider taking him out of the shooting line in Newcastle tomorrow and to play his
No2 goalkeeper Altay Bayindir follows the shaky performance of the 29-year-old in France instead.
Onana was the mistake because he did not have the free kick of Thiago Almada outside and then spilled a shot by Georges Mikautadze in the dying seconds to let Rayan Cherki simultaneously after Zirkzee thought he had won it with a late header.
Amorim said afterwards that he still has faith in Onana, and Zirkzee insisted that the rest of the players are also firmly behind him.
“One hundred percent,” said the Dutchman. 'We are one team, so we are not going to take anyone with us for making mistakes. That is ridiculous.
'Drawing this way is always a little bit, I don't want to say frustrating, but it hurts that it is going this way. But we just have to concentrate on the next game and that is Newcastle gone. And then we all know what to do if we are against Lyon again next week. '
Axing Onana would be a huge decision for Amorim. But Zirkzee knows more than anyone else that his manager is not afraid to make a big call for the team's well -being, even if it can be the most painful experiences for the player.
United on Sunday before Tyneside to be confronted for the first time in Newcastle, since Zirkzee reached its lowest point at United during Christmas. He was replaced by Kobbie Mainoo in the 33rd minute to cheers from the old Trafford -Modigte and ran straight off the tunnel on the edge of tears. The 23-year-old has reflected from that humiliation, with his goal at the Groupama Stadium on Thursday evening the final step in his recovery.
United's £ 36.5 million summer Signing from Bologna also came away with an important goal to Real Sociedad in the final round of the Europa League, and scored against Leicester and the converting of the decisive fine in the FA Cup third-round shootout victory at Arsenal.
Amorim praised Zirkzee because he had the character to recover and is also pleased to see the reaction of United fans who are making good by helping the player regain his self -confidence.
“Yes, he's doing great,” said the United Boss. 'But also a very important thing was the way the fans responded after that incident. Even if Josh does not play, you see every time he comes to the field or just warms up our fans, sing the Josh number. That is huge for the boy.
“So it's 50-50-50 percent the fans and 50 percent of the part of Josh.” Asked what he did to help Zirkzee, Amorim added: “The same thing. I explained the situation. As a former player I wanted to hear some explanation from the coaches about that. I just want to help the team.
'And then work with him, all the work that all the staff does to him and he is
Improve and then put it in the game. This is the only way to show trust in him. '
Now Amorim has to make an equally difficult call about Onana, after he has stayed with his goalkeeper so far.
The United Boss is expected to make a number of changes to Newcastle, but it was reluctant to say how much he will rotate his team against Lyon for the second stage.
“If you play for Manchester United, you can't think about the game to think about the next one,” Amorim added. “So we're going to face this and then we have three days.
“There is a big responsibility. We don't have a team that is really big and then we have players I know they can't make 90 minutes at the moment, we have to be very careful. We must be confronted in Newcastle with a team that we can be competitive to win the game. '
In the meantime, United is investigating allegations that their fans were torn by the French police. The club would collect facts to get a clear picture of what happened during the first leg of the quarterfinals.
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