Aaron Wan-Bissaka

Kostov said:

You know someone does not have a clue about football and defending when criticizes AWB about his defending and thinks Trippier would be an improvement.

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Barely watch Trippier but saying AWB is not that good a defender isn't outrageous. There a lot more to defending than tacking and containing a marker one on one.
The honest truth is that his overall game needs a lot of work but he has a lot of time on his side.

He'll be fine this season, hopefully keeps improving and adding more to his game overall.

He started slow last season as well and grew into it. I wouldn't read too much into pre-season performances.

Solius said:

You've done exactly what they would've wanted by posting this here. Ignore them.

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I just think its funny. Clearly Talksport gets the most engagements when Man Utd is the topic. Not a day goes by without something about the club being discussed.

The people at Talksport have obviously figured out that they will get the most hits with contrary views about United e.g., Varane being slow.

I'm actually interested to see how long they can keep it up and where else they can go with it. Season hasn't even started yet.

I've come to the conclusion that a lot of posters on here just don't like Wan Bissaka and look at everything he does through a glass half empty view. He's been extremely solid during his two years here and IMO has been nothing less than a 7.5 since joining.

From day one he was a massive upgrade on Valencia, Darmian and Young who had held the position for a few years. He's also a big game performer and has had immense performances at Anfield, Etihad and Parc des Prince stopping world class wingers in the process. He's 23 and just recently played a 100 PL games and some of you are acting as if he's the finished product. His attacking play has already improved considerably and I'd expect the same in the coming season. Sure he loses concentration at the back post but surely his mate Shaw on the other wing should serve as an example of improving at that aspect. Shaw was almost as bad at that and was one of the main criticisms Jose had of him.

Tbf I think its a loud minority who seem to have something against him. He's not perfect by any means but based on what he's done for us he has definitely been a good signing. Now that he has a more solid partner in defence in Varane and a top class RW in Sancho, he finally has the type of support Shaw has had in Maguire and Rashford.

Adisa said:

Barely watch Trippier but saying AWB is not that good a defender isn't outrageous. There a lot more to defending than tacking and containing a marker one on one.
The honest truth is that his overall game needs a lot of work but he has a lot of time on his side.

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The honest truth is yes he has been caught couple of times out of position or sleeping while defending and now you have morons like Charlie Austin talking crap about how we need Trippier, the same Trippier who I've seen defend appallingly bad many many times, in all aspects of the game.

AWB is not the finished product and he does need to improve and iron mistakes from his game, but the guy is an absolute monster in defense and yeah there's more to defending than tackling and containing a winger, but he's much better than given credit here. He's miles better in defense than TAA, better than James, and Pereira or whoever the feck you put in the bracket from the league.

Usually Charlie Austin is talking out of his ass, but our right back position is definitely a weak spot. Just the fact he's saying it after playing him last week shows opposition players know that and are targeting him. Wan-Bissaka has not been as good defensively as he was when he first came and you can always rely on him to lose his man at the back post and his attacking play, while better, is still most of the time non-existent.

Every defender makes mistakes. AWB is the best defensive right back in the world, I have no doubt about that.

PoTMS said:

Usually Charlie Austin is talking out of his ass, but our right back position is definitely a weak spot. Just the fact he's saying it after playing him last week shows opposition players know that and are targeting him. Wan-Bissaka has not been as good defensively as he was when he first came and you can always rely on him to lose his man at the back post and his attacking play, while better, is still most of the time non-existent.

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Mitten and Lurkhurst have said this is a source of frustration among the coaches.

He can obviously defend, but he does have a few defensive weaknesses. He is obviously targeted for far post crosses and pressing


However anyone who thinks Trippier is a better defender is having a laugh

He has shown improvement attacking last season and regressed defensively which is fine as a young RB.

No young RB was coming here and going to be perfect from the age of 23. An attacking one was going to be poor defensively and a defensive one was going to be average attacking.

Hopefully he aims to strike a balance between attacking and defence next season because he has shown he can do a bit of both plus he now has players like Varane and Sancho on his side.

I agree with @El Jefe who says he has been a solid 7-7.5 player that should aim to hopefully strike being that 8.0 player within next season or two. It's why I don't mind Trippier coming to get him to compete and understand his role whilst he gets better.

I'm surprised people are writing off AWB but understand the criticism as his positioning can be suspect. That said you must remember than he's a younger player, converted winger even, and he's had very little consistency or experience on his side of the pitch. Lindelof doesn't always fill you with confidence nor has he had a RW to build a solid relationship with either.

With the addition of Varane at RCB and Sancho, who has played WB and will get up and down, I feel he's well placed to kick on this season.

Look at the partnerships on the left of Maguire, Shaw and Shaw, Rashford. That's what AWB needs and will have next season with two very classy players.

PoTMS said:

Usually Charlie Austin is talking out of his ass, but our right back position is definitely a weak spot. Just the fact he's saying it after playing him last week shows opposition players know that and are targeting him. Wan-Bissaka has not been as good defensively as he was when he first came and you can always rely on him to lose his man at the back post and his attacking play, while better, is still most of the time non-existent.

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I think you're speaking a lot of sense. However, where I disagree with you is on your statement Wan-Bissaka has gone backwards defensively.

Wan-Bissaka has not gone backwards defensively, he just hasn't gone forward defensively as much as we would like.

From day one Wan-Bissaka has been brilliant in 1v1 duels on the ground. Wan-Bissaka remains brilliant against a player trying to stand him up and go past him. Where he lets himself down is in his general defensive positioning, especially when the ball is on the opposite flank and/or when the ball is in the air. He routinely gets caught out by the flight of ball into the box and, as you say, this is something teams look to exploit. People are aware that if you keep slinging the ball into our right hand channel, eventually, Wan-Bissaka will give up a chance. Probably several.

This is not a change in his game. He's been this way since we signed him. However, I am sure the coaches would have expected him to grow in these areas over the years he's been a United player.

Wan-Bissaka definitely can defend but there are holes in his game.

Dolf said:

Every defender makes mistakes. AWB is the best defensive right back in the world, I have no doubt about that.

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This is the kind of statement that makes our fanbase look ridiculous. Best defensive fullback in the world? Don't make me laugh. There's more to defending than recovery tackles. I think if you said he's got the best recover tackle in the world you wouldn't get much comeback from anyone.

His positioning, his reading of the game, passing and heading are all sub par for me. It's amazing how many goals we conceded because of him last season. I think it would shock a lot on here to watch them back and see for themselves.

I think AWB still has the biggest question mark over his head from Ole's major signings.

The fact we're now looking for a more technically apt fullback in Trippier says it all.
And I don't think Trippier ,if signed ,will be the back-up.

Dolf said:

Every defender makes mistakes. AWB is the best defensive right back in the world, I have no doubt about that.

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Azpilicueta for one is on a different level to him defensively

I haven't watched Trippier since he's moved to Spain. How has he been defensively for them? He plays for Simeone after all.

Adisa said:

I haven't watched Trippier since he's moved to Spain. How has he been defensively for them? He plays for Simeone after all.

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I've only seen him in the CL where he has looked good. I believe he did make La Liga team of the season and despite his ban for betting breaches, Simeone put him straight back into the starting line up after the ban, clearly showing how he values him a lot.

Ole's screen said:

Does talksport put up a craigslist looking for people to say the most ridiculous shit?

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O'Hara, Austin there who else have they had ex players wise?

Just seeing if you could build a relegation side out of them

Why would you ignore criticism from a striker who literally just scored against us while AWB was easily the worst player on the pitch?

Talksport or any platform it is a legitimate criticism. The MUTV commentators also spoke to Charlie Austin who critiqued our backline for not speaking to each other at all. Is that valid because it was on MUTV or what channel does it need to be on?

AWB can’t defend outside 1v1s. When fellow professionals are calling him out on it maybe people should learn to accept it. He’s terrible on the ball, when PL managers are calling him out on it and basing game plans on pressing him then maybe people should learn to accept it.

I really like this guy. He’s a fantastic defender with a great attitude. But this discussion raises an interesting issue and something which I have noticed also.

It seems to me that many of the ‘lapses’ are actually defensive strategy issues. When the ball is on the opposite side of the field AWB has obviously been instructed to tuck-in to cover midfield runners. This leaves space behind him - runners into that space should be tracked by midfielder or even right side attacker. If that player doesn’t do their job it leaves AWB looking poor - but its not necessarily his fault. For example I’ve seen Bruno arrive late to the right FB cover position and AWB looking silly.

With experience he will better understand when to tuck in as per coaching instruction and when to cover the outside runner.

limerickcitykid said:

Why would you ignore criticism from a striker who literally just scored against us while AWB was easily the worst player on the pitch?

Talksport or any platform it is a legitimate criticism. The MUTV commentators also spoke to Charlie Austin who critiqued our backline for not speaking to each other at all. Is that valid because it was on MUTV or what channel does it need to be on?

AWB can’t defend outside 1v1s. When fellow professionals are calling him out on it maybe people should learn to accept it. He’s terrible on the ball, when PL managers are calling him out on it and basing game plans on pressing him then maybe people should learn to accept it.

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Dreadful post.

He desperately needs to improve on those lapses in concentration that sees him cancelling offside or going to sleep on the back post. Other than that he's a great defensive fullback that's a tad inconsistent going forward.

It should be easier to work on his game if he doesn't have to play 54 matches, and we need a backup RB that's better than Williams for that.

Trippier's crossing is better and that's about it. Not an upgrade, just an option/competition at best, which is fine depending on the fee.

Remember the geese said:

Dreadful post.

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Is he wrong though?

Hasenhuttl said after the 2-2 at OT in19/20 that he actively targeted Wan-Bissaka and now Austin straight up says he's poor defensively. Teams are targeting him, it's obvious, and I suspect teams targeting him repeatedly is why he looked worse last season than in his debut season.

Remember the geese said:

Dreadful post.

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What's dreadful about it?

AltiUn said:

Is he wrong though?

Hasenhuttl said after the 2-2 at OT in19/20 that he actively targeted Wan-Bissaka and now Austin straight up says he's poor defensively. Teams are targeting him, it's obvious, and I suspect teams targeting him repeatedly is why he looked worse last season than in his debut season.

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I think Wan Bissaka has been very good for us and I don't agree that he was any worse last season than he was in his debut season with us. If anything he added to his game last season and was more expansive in an attacking sense. He isn't poor defensively at all, but occasionally suffers from a lack of concentration, much like Kyle Walker for instance. It's all very hyperbolic.

SS said:

What's dreadful about it?

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I responded to a previous poster, but I simply don't agree that Wan Bissaka is poor defensively. I'm not sure what Charlie Austin is basing that on. A cobbled together team in a pre-season friendly has to be the only logical argument.

Remember the geese said:

I think Wan Bissaka has been very good for us and I don't agree that he was any worse last season than he was in his debut season with us. If anything he added to his game last season and was more expansive in an attacking sense. He isn't poor defensively at all, but occasionally suffers from a lack of concentration, much like Kyle Walker for instance. It's all very hyperbolic.

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It isn't though. In terms of defending individually he's incredible. But his ability to defend as a unit leaves a lot to be desired. He plays players onside far too often, seemingly doesn't communicate with his winger/CB when passing players or asking for support, and switches off far too regularly. If anything, he gets off leniently.

Remember the geese said:

Dreadful post.

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Cheers, I’m sure your masterful insight is better than professional managers and players but I’ll keep listening to Ralph Hassenhuttl and countless forwards and managers who target him though thanks.

I really like AWB. As mentioned by others he has many great qualities and he comes across as a nice guy. I want to see him succeed at United.

The way I see it though (and again as many posters have already said) there are 2 major problems with him (imo anyway).

The first is the most obvious - his positioning. We were caught out countless times last season by opposition switching play quickly as they approach our penalty area/deep crosses. This should 100% be solved by coaching. It's painfuly obvious that opposition managers have identified it as a weakness and actively target doing exactly that in games.

The second issue is fatigue. I think this season gone and the season before AWB flagged in the final third of the season, and especially in games after 60 or so minutes. Some on here accuse him of being lazy and walking around, which maybe he does at times - but he started more games for us last season than anyone else, and played more minutes (technically he wouldn't have had Maguire not picked up that late injury).

Getting another RB is really important. It would solve issue 2, and go a long way to solving issue 1. I'd guess the coaches and board agree with this given our interest in Trippier. I think having proper competition would spur him on in his development, he seems to have the mentality to react well (Like Shaw). I can't imagine the coaching team haven't tried to address the positioning issue in training - maybe, just maybe having somebody else who may start and does pay more attention to that aspect will act as that incentive.

limerickcitykid said:

Cheers, I’m sure your masterful insight is better than professional managers and players but I’ll keep listening to Ralph Hassenhuttl and countless forwards and managers who target him though thanks.

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No problem. I'm sure Ole shares my masterful insight too, so that's good enough for me.

ivaldo said:

It isn't though. In terms of defending individually he's incredible. But his ability to defend as a unit leaves a lot to be desired. He plays players onside far too often, seemingly doesn't communicate with his winger/CB when passing players or asking for support, and switches off far too regularly. If anything, he gets off leniently.

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I think these are all issues that improve with experience. Playing alongside Varane will stand him in good stead too.

Varane will do wonders for him. His biggest problem is his positioning, Varane will both cover him and keep him in check.

I'm quite optimistic we will see a much better player going forward too. Shaw looks good because he has a strong left flank ahead of him to play off and cover his runs. AWB has been totally isolated on the right, with Sancho that will change.

Remember the geese said:

No problem. I'm sure Ole shares my masterful insight too, so that's good enough for me.

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Indeed, that’s why Ole is trying to sign a new RB who plays for England over AWB.

Remember the geese said:

I think these are all issues that improve with experience. Playing alongside Varane will stand him in good stead too.

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I'm sure they will, but that doesn't mean it isn't a significant weakness in our defense right now.

limerickcitykid said:

Indeed, that’s why Ole is trying to sign a new RB who plays for England over AWB.

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Pretty sure that Trippier will be cover/competition for Wan Bissaka rather than a direct replacement.

ivaldo said:

I'm sure they will, but that doesn't mean it isn't a significant weakness in our defense right now.

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Yeah, fair point. Every player has weaknesses though, so hopefully they can all mask over eachother's issues.

#07 said:

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The most Gamon Radio show ever, hosted by Gamons and always a Gamon who calls in,

Alan Brazil also makes me want to go drink a spinach and kale smoothie and then go for a jog. Jesus christ

Unlikely I'd ever rate him as highly as most fans. I've never thought him to be our longterm solution, considering he one of the best one vs one fullbacks I've ever seen.
Reasoning:
He reaches into tackles which looks too awkward for me. Strange though because he pulls off some magnificent tackles with it. That's where the butter stops melting.
I don't know much about positional sense but he never looks comfy when his man is not on the ball or close enough for him to put a foot in.
Not a fan of fullbacks with long legs, considering fbs have to defend on the turn and in sitting posture. This always leads to taking a step back to create room before doing any proper defending or else theyll end up clattering the forward.

No conclusion here. This is just what I see when I watch him and can't ever get past it. He is still young though, you never know.