Manchester United made the right choice: Ramones had a clean sheet on his debut, and future goalkeeper candidates emerged

In the early morning of October 5, 2025, Manchester United defeated Sunderland 2-0 in the seventh round of the Premier League. This victory not only ended the team's recent winless embarrassment, but also marked a new starting point - the new Belgian goalkeeper Senne Ramones made his debut and helped the team keep an opponent clean for the first time this season.

The young goalkeeper, born in 2003, made his official debut for Manchester United at Old Trafford. And his performance also gave people hope that they had not seen for a long time.

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Before the game, the fans at Old Trafford welcomed the new goalkeeper in their usual humorous way - the whole audience sang in unison: "Are you Schmeichel pretending to be?" Although this joke is a joke on a young goalkeeper with only one full season of experience in the Belgian First Division, it also reflects the fans' anxiety about the long-term instability of Manchester United's goalkeeper position, as well as their deep expectations for a reliable guardian.

In the game, Ramones was not perfect. He made a risky move in the second half, colliding with Bruno Fernandez and Sunderland captain Bertrand Traore, almost causing an empty-net crisis. Fortunately, the referee determined that Traore had dived and showed him a yellow card, and Manchester United escaped.

This scene exposed Ramones' inexperience, but overall, his performance was convincing.

He contributed two key saves in the game:

The first time was when facing Granit Xhaka's long shot, he quickly fell to the ground and blocked the ball, showing excellent reaction speed and agility;

The second time was when facing Sunderland player Shemsdine Talby one-on-one, he calmly struck out and blocked the ball with his feet, defuse the opponent's most threatening attack.

These two saves, especially the latter, fully demonstrated Ramones' composure and confidence - which is exactly what Baindel lacks.

Amorim’s patience led to a successful debut

After the game, coach Ruben Amorim explained why Ramones has not been used until now: "When he first joined, Artay (Beindl) was the main goalkeeper. We need time for him to adapt. The goalkeeper position is under tremendous media pressure, and we must It is necessary to ensure that Sene (Ramons) is mentally and tactically prepared. "

Amorim emphasized: "But it is just a game after all. He needs to continue to work hard and stay focused. However, he performed well and was confident today."

Former Everton player and BBC commentator Leon Osman also supported Amorim's decision: "This is a wise choice. You need to let Ramones slowly adapt to the environment here - feel the atmosphere of the stadium, understand the movements of teammates, and learn how to cooperate."

He added Added: "Some details are crucial, such as knowing which foot your teammates like to use to receive the ball, or avoiding passing back to dangerous areas. These are not achieved overnight."

Data shows that 86.4% of Ramones' 44 passes in this field were long passes, which is much higher than Byindl's average of 56.5% this season. This shows that Amorim is interested in creating a more direct and impactful goalkeeping style.

Sunderland coach Regis LeBris also pointed out: "When a team is under pressure, long passes are a safe and difficult-to-defend strategy. This tactical choice by Manchester United is very smart."

A clean sheet is of great significance, and the goalkeeper battle may end.

This is the first time Manchester United has completed a clean sheet in the Premier League this season, which is crucial to improving the team's morale and defensive confidence. Although Ramones has only played one game and has little experience, his debut performance has far exceeded expectations.

Currently, Manchester United has not participated in many competitions and there is no need to rotate goalkeepers for a long time. A stable and reliable main goalkeeper is the cornerstone of rebuilding the defense.

Judging from this performance, perhaps it is time for Amorim to make a decision: officially hand over the responsibility of the main goalkeeper to the 23-year-old Belgian star.