2025-09-27 14:05:30
Altay Bayindir has done little to prove Peter Crouch was wrong to feel Manchester United have “three No.2s” after Brentford’s second goal in their Premier League meeting.
Bayindir started his sixth straight Premier League game as United made the trip to Brentford on Saturday. He’d been behind Andre Onana in the pecking order last season, but was clearly preferred to him at the beginning of this campaign, leading to Onana being loaned to Trabzonspor.
That he was the second choice last season, and United signed Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp in the summer, has led TNT Sports pundit Peter Crouch to suggest the Red Devils don’t know who their best strongest option is.
He said: “It feels to me, the situation with the goalkeeper just hasn’t been addressed. I think it feels like they’ve got three No.2s. It’s an issue that was obvious, Onana wasn’t going to be the No.1. I think we knew that. And I don’t think the situation’s been addressed.
“And obviously they’ve brought the young lad in who isn’t starting, Lammens, has come in, and you know, he was brought to potentially be a No.1 and can’t get in the team. He’s still a young lad. He’s had one real season in in football, and obviously they’re starting Bayindir.”
Within the first few minutes of the match against Brentford, Bayindir both made a positive contribution, with a good double save, and undid that with the Bees second goal.
Bayindir saved a tight effort from Kevin Schade, but parried immediately into the path of Igor Thiago, whose effort into the middle of the goal was met with Bayindir’s left hand, but he was unable to stop it, and he followed by punching the turf in frustration.
Whether Lammens is given his first start soon remains to be seen. Our friends at TEAMtalk have suggested it is coming.
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For Crouch, he feels that will eventually be the case, though he’s not sure why one of two better keepers were not signed at Old Trafford.
He said: “And I don’t know why, when [Gianluigi] Donnarumma maybe, or [Emiliano] Martinez were available in the summer, that this situation wasn’t resolved.
“I think [Lammens] understood the situation that he was going to be a No.2, he’s found himself in a No.1 situation, obviously, they don’t think that Lammens is ready. He’s still a young man, and eventually, maybe the No.1.
“But a club of Man United’s stature, you know, you think about [Fabian] Barthez and [Edwin] Van Der Sar and [Peter] Schmeichel, over the course of the history, I know we keep harping on about Manchester United’s history, they’ve always had a dominant goalkeeper, and I think with Martinez, it just felt the obvious situation that he would come in, and he’s dominant, he’s a character, you know, he’s someone that fits the stature and personnel of Manchester United.”
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