September was a tough month for Manchester United. A thrashing of third-tier Barnsley in the Carabao Cup offered brief respite from humbling results in the Premier League and Europa League.

A particularly concerning display against Tottenham Hotspur at the end of September reopened the ceaseless debate surrounding Erik ten Hag’s future. The Dutchman is expected to retain his position at the helm of a listing ship, although hasn’t been helped by many of his underperforming players.

Not every member of United’s squad has been weighed down during a sequence of results which were bookended by 3-0 defeats to Liverpool and Spurs.

Based upon a poll 90min conducted in our dedicated Manchester United fan WhatsApp channel (link to follow down below), more than 46,000 fans have made their candidate for September’s player of the month abundantly clear.

Seven of the 11 goals which Manchester United scored in September came at home to Barnsley in a third-round Carabao Cup tie. Marcus Rashford scored twice in that walkover win and, more significantly, had opened his account in the Premier League against Southampton three days earlier.

United’s divisive academy graduate had not scored in any of his previous 12 club appearances across all competitions, but enjoyed himself against the newly promoted Saints. Despite going off with 20 minutes remaining, Rashford racked up three shots on target – his highest tally in a Premier League game since May 2023.

That burst of form was cut short when Ten Hag dropped Rashford to the bench for United’s very next league game. The Dutchman cited “rotation”, but United’s fans were clearly more impressed with the England international, as roughly 4,500 of them voted him as the month’s top performer.

Centre-backs Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt both received around 2,000 nominations. But the defensive duo’s stock was undoubtedly hit by a chastening 3-3 Europa League draw with Porto once October began as Ten Hag hooked both of them in the 78th minute. The unfashionable pairing of Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans who were subbed into the continental tie retained their position for United’s final league game before the October international break. Rather damningly, the bruising British partnership kept a clean sheet against high-flying Aston Villa.

Andre Onana’s popularity has violently fluctuated during an eventful 14 months in England, swinging from futuristic messiah to flapping mess. It has been far more the former than the latter of late. Almost three-quarters of the 46,000 fans that completed the survey selected the goalkeeper as United’s best player.

Onana’s reputation has enjoyed an upward surge despite the downward trending results. The Cameroon international produced a pivotal penalty save to swing the momentum of United’s trip to Southampton in the middle of the month, getting down to deny Cameron Archer’s tame effort before springing back up to stop the rebound as well.

Even while United dropped points, Onana managed to improve his standing among the fans. United’s enigmatic shot-stopper was rested for the cup tie against Barnsley but was repeatedly called into action at the end of a goalless stalemate with Crystal Palace. Onana couldn’t preserve a clean sheet when Tottenham travelled to Old Trafford despite making seven saves – the most he has recorded in a league game since February.

Rarely is it a good sign when the goalkeeper is a team’s best player during a single game. That Onana has clearly been the standout individual over the last month says a lot about their recent struggles. Sadly for United, they’ve also been in this position before, when David de Gea was voted Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year for three seasons in row.

Andre Onana’s Man Utd stats in September

READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP