Joe Lewis praises Manchester United’s goalkeeping department’s strength and depth | OneFootball

Former Aberdeen goalkeeper Joe Lewis, who trained with Manchester United last season, has praised the quality of the club’s goalkeeping department.

The 36 year old came in to make up the numbers in training after Radek Vitek went on loan to Accrington Stanley and got a unique insight into the team as a non-playing member of the training squad.

Speaking in an interview with The Manchester Evening News, Lewis stated how impressed he was by the quality of United’s keepers and commented on how great an experience it was to work with very different types of players.

“I’ve never worked with foreign goalkeeping coaching, so it was great to see different techniques and a different ways of doing things. Andre and Altay are completely different but are both about being effective. It’s about keeping the ball out of the net and there are different ways to do that.”

Lewis highlighted Onana’s athleticism and power in goal that allows him to do things that he could not in his career due to his differing physical stature.

The Cameroonian struggled in his first few months at United with a number of high profile mistakes in the Champions League but recovered in the second half of the season.

Speaking on Onana’s qualities, that saw him ranked as the 23rd best player in the world in the Ballon d’Or rankings of 2023, he commented, “you see Andre’s composure each week anyway. He’s never flustered and there are certain things I learned from each one of them, so it was great for me to learn and eye-opening.”

Lewis also praised Onana’s strong character to take risks with the ball but then also his ability to pull it off.

“He’s very laid back and that’s part of his strengths. I think when I first watched him in matches, it was heart-in-mouth stuff because the top teams press so well and with such intensity, but he just pops it around them because he’s so good with the ball at his feet.”

Another keeper who Lewis worked with who is not so well known by United fans is Altay Bayindir, who has only made one appearance for the senior team despite signing around a year ago.

Such was his lack of game time that it seemed earlier in the summer that he may move on from the club, but it appears that he will stay on as United’s number two for now.

Despite differing in style to Onana, Bayindir impressed the Englishman with what he showed him in training.

“When you put Altay in the small-sided games, his starting position, sweeping up behind and athleticism getting off the line is unbelievable and Andre’s composure is outstanding,” he said.

Finally Lewis dished out some praise for his friend Tom Heaton, who was crucial to Lewis securing the chance to train at the club.

“If you need Tom to play, you know you have a goalkeeper who isn’t going to let you down and he can play at the top level still. He’s dependable and trains really hard.”

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