Former Manchester United player Nemanja Matic has essentially told Andre Onana to be better or silence himself. Nobody saw that coming...
As Manchester United prepares to face Lyon in the Europa League this week, the trash-talking has been in full motion. In truth, Andre Onana opened up the firing range, by being full of confidence about Man United being a better team than Lyon.
This week, Andre Onana was reported to say: "Of course, it's not going to be easy, but I think we are way better than them. We all know the importance of this game, we will go there with the winning mentality, it’s not our best season but we still have something to win and we will go for it."
Former Manchester United player tells Andre Onana to get better or hush
Now, though, the Cameroonian goalkeeper has been met with a serious reality check from the player nobody would have expected to issue it, Nemanja Matic. The former Man United midfielder, who has played for Lyon since 2024, has said that he won't take criticism seriously from Man United's worst goalkeeper.
In his own words, Matic said: "If you are one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United's history you need to take care of what you're talking about. If David de Gea, Peter Schmeichel or Van der Sar said that then I would question myself, but if you are statistically one of the worst goalkeepers in Man United's modern history, he needs to show that before he says. So we will see."
Look, this is a sport of egos. This should not come as news to anyone, even in the respectful era we're currently living in. However, nobody would have foreseen Nemanja Matic, who is remembered fondly by the Old Trafford faithful, to come out and blast a Man United player before the upcoming match.
But does it mean that Man United fans will respect Nemanja Matic any less? No, hopefully not. The Serbian midfielder is only doing what he believes to be right by putting himself out on the firing lane and defending the team he currently plays for. It would be far more concerning if he just rolled over and let shots be fired at his current side.
Besides, Matic didn't say anything wrong. He drawn upon statistical evidence, in that Andre Onana is the worst Man United goalkeeper for some time, by the numbers. Of course, it might not be entirely Onana's fault, but where did Matic lie?
Now, we can only hope that Andre Onana does his talking on the pitch. Bring on Thursday.