[Odin]

He's been treated pretty harshly in here for quite a while. Even when he's had good(ish) games, he gets a lot of stick. When he came, everybody praised the signing and his defensive qualities. I still have time for him, and I don't see the "useless" or "woeful" player so many others claim to see.

Getting a proper right winger in front of him might do him a ton of good to improve his game short term and ensure progression long term.

 

[Valencia's Left Foot]

I don’t trust anyone who disagrees with this.

He is the first player who needs to be replaced, I honestly think both Tuanzebe and Lindelöf outperformed him while he was injured. Based on that, you can only imagine how much good a capable RB would do.

Agreed. We overpaid for Maguire, but at least I’m glad he’s on the team.

 

[Silas]

Is Laird still injured?

I told you all this in December 2019. He's not good enough for us. Awful signing.

Yeah, it's been clear from the summer we were linked and plenty said so at the time. Were quickly hounded by the "he's literally a former winger, Palace just don't instruct him to attack" folk.

 

[MattofManchester]

What people dont seem to understand is what Ole has done to Shaw will happen to Wan Bissaka and these fans are absolutely impatient for a player who has only played his role for 3 years and is clueless.

Comparing one player with next to no technical ability to another who has quite a lot of it to make your case is quite baffling.

Shaw could always do that role. He did it before his injury, and has proven he can do it again.

Wan-Bissaka has been liable both defensively with his positioning and hurts us just as much in the attacking phase. He's not going to improve, because he doesn't have the skill necessary.

Christ, it was a poor buy. I don't get why nobody can accept that and move on. Not every player here is going to be a success no matter how much anybody hopes they will be.

Case in point, Martial.

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

So much negativity, you’d think he was our biggest issue.

 

[Odin]

What people dont seem to understand is what Ole has done to Shaw will happen to Wan Bissaka and these fans are absolutely impatient for a player who has only played his role for 3 years and is clueless.

Ole bought Wan Bissaka and likes Shaw because nearly every clubs plays inverted forwards in the modern game so having some defensive fullbacks is useful as we have seen in game - yet when the time is right Ole will buy attacking full backs to compete with the defensive ones.

Everyone is talking about how Shaw is looking much better now but it's all seems align very well with the signing with Telles isnt it?

Why is that? Shaw was looking good bit and pieces but now he is starting to look more like a complete player with attacking abilities and crossing because he has started to learn from Telles almost instantly. This is something Ole clearly is bringing from SAF era and wants his players his to learn from players of experience! And difference - was shaw any better learning from brandon William's? Not really.

Why do I say this?

Because wan Bissaka is the only bloody RB at the whole club.

The whole club.

He is 20 something.

He has played the role for 3 years and he is clearly learning his position still and he has no one to learn it from.

Ole will sign a player of experience and attacking to make Wan Bissaka learn the role and make the lad more confident.

How can our fans not see this?

Agreed. A right winger in front of him can also only help the situation.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

So much negativity, you’d think he was our biggest issue.

He is our biggest issue against 15 teams. He's the one who gets the space and does nothing with it. They even leave him unmarked and he still does nothing.

 

[Bebestation]

Cause they just want the next TAA, someone raiding down the wing but who can’t defend. Horses for courses simple as that, like you say get an experienced RB in and he’ll get better as he learns the position more.

And I heard we might be linked to Trippier - Wan Bissaka learning from him seems like something Ole would have targeted for and yet ended up having both an attacking and a defensive fullback at the same time.

Yet alot of our fans wants the Lamptey or the Aaron's or as you say just the new TAA straight away when Ole isnt so quick to think like that.

 

[laughtersassassin]

We definitely need a second right back for games like this. He isn't developing going forward

Great for the most part defensively apart from some positional mishaps that surely coaching can help him with.

 

[laughtersassassin]

So much negativity, you’d think he was our biggest issue.

The right hand side is our biggest issue and tbh with a more attacking right back Greenwood would probably have it easier too.

 

[VP89]

He's shit on the ball. Going forward he offers nothing, he keeps trapping the ball, dribbling, trapping and then squares it or plays back. He has options to drive at defenders and never does.


His defending is also only good when he's square against a player, but aerially and positionally he's absolute trash. I don't actually rate him anymore - obviously he's young and can develop but I think he's pretty shit as a full back. Good when square on against attackers but thats about it.

 

[Ekeke]

I don’t trust anyone who disagrees with this.

He is the first player who needs to be replaced, I honestly think both Tuanzebe and Lindelöf outperformed him while he was injured. Based on that, you can only imagine how much good a capable RB would do.

Well they didnt, so I feel sorry for you as you cant trust yourself

 

[Devil_forever]

This fecking place, a blind man and his dog could see he looked uncomfortable on the ball when he was at palace and yet everyone was screaming for us to sign him when we started being linked with him. Given his price tag, we’re not going to be able to shift him, so the sooner everyone accepts he’s going to be our first choice RB for the foreseeable future, the better.

I’m just hoping he improves his attack play but he looks so limited as a footballer, to think people called for Valencia’s head and then advocated signing this guy.

 

[Ekeke]

The right hand side is our biggest issue and tbh with a more attacking right back Greenwood would probably have it easier too.

How do you have it easier than not tracking back? With a more attacking fullback its time for Greenwood to do some defending

 

[Ekeke]

What is it that people are unhappy with tonight btw? He didnt constantly lump the ball in, he gave it back to Bruno who crossed as he's better at it. And guess what, we didnt score from his crosses either and he's by far our best player.

Maybe he didnt have enough dribbles? He had 1. Rashford and Martial both had 3. They are the only players in the team that had more than 1 dribble. Did he give the ball away too much? No 89% pass accuracy, wasnt tackled at all and lost the ball once with a loose touch.

Stop expecting your fullbacks to be wingers when your CBs need them to be defenders and the DMs dont cover them. It would be great to get a more gung ho rightback to attack attack attack off the bench for the last 15 mins of a tight match but other than that our fullbacks are one of the strongest areas of the squad

 

[kundalini]

Last season 0 goals + 4 assists in 3075 PL mins. Understat have his xG90 as 0.02 and his xA90 as 0.10. Key passes per 90 mins 0.73. Statsbomb have xG90 as 0.03 and xA90 as 0.08. Pass completion 81.3%

This season 1 goal + 0 assists in 1170 mins. Understat xG90 0.01 xA90 0.02. Key passes per 90 mins 0.38. Statsbomb (via Fbref) xG90 0.02 xA90 0.03. Pass completion 82.3%

His unsuccessful touches per 90 mins is up slightly this season, while dispossessed per 90 mins is down from 1.3 to 0.5. Succesful dribbles per 90 down from 1.6 to 0.7, while unsuccessful unchanged at 0.8.

So overall, a slight improvement in terms of retaining possession but his attacking productivity numbers are down, despite his sensational goal at Newcastle.

On the defensive side of his game, successful tackles down from 3.8 to 3.1 per 90 mins. Interceptions down from 1.9 to 1.2 per 90 mins. Blocks - shots/crosses/passes - up in all 3 categories. A slight improvement in the percentage of aerial challenges he is winning, though still under 50%.

 

[TheNewEra]

Absolutely dreadful going forward, today not a single cross from him... United definitely need a RW that doesn't track back who is a world class RW or get a top full-back it's concerning AWB isn't developing going forward.

 

[Ekeke]

Absolutely dreadful going forward, today not a single cross from him... United definitely need a RW that doesn't track back who is a world class RW or get a top full-back it's concerning AWB isn't developing going forward.

So he put in 2 and 0 found their man

Telles put in 7 and 0 found their man despite some of them being decent balls

He tended to play the ball back to Fernandes, who is a better crosser than most fullbacks and its also something City do we De Bruyne, their RB passing back to DB to cross. Fernandes tried 3 and 1 found a United teammate

So that begs the question, do you really want AWB or Walker crossing when they can pass back to Fernandes or De Bruyne who cross better than 95% of fullbacks? If you do then you really are confused about what you want

 

[Foxbatt]

He was awful.

 

[Robindinho]

£50m for someone who’s only effective when we’re playing on the defensive (so, 4/5 games - City/Liverpool, Chelsea away).

Absolutely pointless playing him against teams who sit back - this guy makes ‘turn back Tony’ look like prime Cafu.

Wish we’d give Laird a chance.

 

[Jericho]

Great defensively, terrible going forward. I don't see it improving much, he just looks uncomfortable on the ball up the pitch.

 

[Tarrou]

He gets more time on the ball than any other player but its no coincidence, teams are happy to let him have it

I thought he was improving on the ball but it seems he's regressed again and his confidence is really low

He needs some competition for his place I think, then its sink or swim

 

[Ekeke]

He gets more time on the ball than any other player but its no coincidence, teams are happy to let him have it

I thought he was improving on the ball but it seems he's regressed again and his confidence is really low

He needs some competition for his place I think, then its sink or swim

Valencia used to get the most time on the ball too. Its how we have played for a long time to have our rightback on an island and expect him to do it all himself.

 

[Albin Johansson]

This guy needs to wake up and improve asap. He offers zero going forward. I know all this is already said but i get frustrated just by thinking of all the praise he gets from slide tackles when he can't even control the ball and my god he's the only one worse than valencia at crossing. How is it possible!?

 

[Isotope]

He's not that great defensively. Great means, you can just assure that right side is defensively secured. Which is never happened.

And teams tactics on him are 1) press him when he's on the ball when defending, 2) let him with acres of space when he's attacking.
Rinse and repeat.

 

[MikeKing]

He is our biggest issue against 15 teams. He's the one who gets the space and does nothing with it. They even leave him unmarked and he still does nothing.

If we could play Ronaldo in his prime at RB we could congest the left side even more and he'd be free every time on the right.

The bigger problem to me is that Wan-Bissaka isn't getting the ball quick enough in advanced positions and have little chemistry with a partner because we chop and change that right side still. He needs to build a relationship with someone and he can turn into a useful player in attack. It's not as if he isn't quick or position himself correctly in attack. I agree that he isn't going to dribble himself past a couple of players but he can run into space and in between players if there is a purpose. It's better that he is out there without making moves right now instead of giving the ball away, we have enough players that take speculative attacking decisions.

 

[Ekeke]

He's not that great defensively. Great means, you can just assure that right side is defensively secured. Which is never happened.

And teams tactics on him are 1) press him when he's on the ball when defending, 2) let him with acres of space when he's attacking.
Rinse and repeat.

Okay so which team has a fullback where the entire side is secured without any help from anyone?

Sounds like a dream player being able to deal with 2 or 3 players at once

 

[Tarrou]

Valencia used to get the most time on the ball too. Its how we have played for a long time to have our rightback on an island and expect him to do it all himself.

He was also a non-threat going forward for many years though, I don't think it's a coincidence. Teams don't give Telles that kind of time and he's been here 5 minutes.

 

[Ekeke]

He was also a non-threat going forward for many years though, I don't think it's a coincidence. Teams don't give Telles that kind of time and he's been here 5 minutes.

Its because Telles is passed the ball 5 yards from Rashford who is standing almost on top of him, with Matic and Pogba close by. Theres no room for him to get the space in because we clog it with our own attacking players and the opponent obviously have a bunch of players defending against them. Therefore there is loads of room on the right, where you dont have to play against Rashford, Pogba, Martial etc passing triangles. He gets all that time and space because of the switch of play and us having no threat from our right winger. Fernandes was pulling wide to give him a passing option behind him and crossing from there when AWB found him. Greenwood offers nothing from the actual right wing. He's all about getting the hell off the wing and into central areas to make a run or shoot

If we had for example James Justin from Leicester at right back, do you think teams are suddenly going to think our right side is as dangerous as our left side with Rashford, Pogba etc?

Nope. It would take a bunch of players just like the reason we're far more dangerous on the left.

 

[a_devil_inside]

He just needs to practice crossing and be more confident in himself

 

[frookydinho]

Really think giving him some actual competition will help. AWB is essential for us in big games, he has shown that (PSG, City etc). Having an attacking option for home games wouldn't be a bad idea. Someone like Max Aaron's? I know Laird is rated highly but he doesn't seem anywhere near the first team picture.

I like the signing of Telles, having options with him and Shaw is great. Imagine having a great option on the right. Full backs have become so important being able to choose between a defensive or attacking fullback is great for us tactically.

 

[TheNewEra]

So he put in 2 and 0 found their man

Telles put in 7 and 0 found their man despite some of them being decent balls

He tended to play the ball back to Fernandes, who is a better crosser than most fullbacks and its also something City do we De Bruyne, their RB passing back to DB to cross. Fernandes tried 3 and 1 found a United teammate

So that begs the question, do you really want AWB or Walker crossing when they can pass back to Fernandes or De Bruyne who cross better than 95% of fullbacks? If you do then you really are confused about what you want

The issue with AWB is going forward though, he doesn't have the ability to dribble because every game he does he just runs it out of play and concedes a goal-kick the majority of the time.

When he does put a ball in, it's not a good delivery.

Passing back to Fernandes is good if he's in the right position, the issue is that it's easy to defend against AWB. You don't fear he will put in a cross so you can just wait for the pass back and defend against that. Fernandes when he did pick the ball would just have to pass it to the other side because there is 3-4 players in front of Fernandes.

All you need to do to AWB is show him the outside, he has zero confidence to drive down the channel and he has zero ability to cross a ball.

The issue is Cavani is in the middle and you need a player who can drive down the byline, United do not have that right now, so then Rashford and whoever else won't even get in the box because they know a cross isn't coming in.

If you know AWB is going to deliver a good ball, Fernandes, Cavani, Rashford would be in the box to attack it.

Pogba can't go forward or the team will be exposed, Fernandes has to sit back and wait for AWB to pass it back because he knows he wont run down the channel, Cavani will not even make a move in the box because he knows theres no cross coming and again United will just wait to go back to the left side because there's literally no threat.

Telles can deliver a good cross and it keeps the opposition guessing. For someone like Cavani, Rashford in the middle why bother getting in the middle if AWB is on the ball?

Look at the first half, Greenwood lofts a ball in from the right channel and Fernandes nearly scores.

The whole point is AWB needs to really build that side of his game, he hasn't developed in around a year now going forward.

United literally have no right side of the attack, and that's why there needs to be a world-class RW brought in, and AWB needs to improve the attacking side of his game (one touch passes, crossing and dribbling in general).

Defending AWB is probably the best defending RB in the game, no issues.

 

[sillwuka]

Really think giving him some actual competition will help. AWB is essential for us in big games, he has shown that (PSG, City etc). Having an attacking option for home games wouldn't be a bad idea. Someone like Max Aaron's? I know Laird is rated highly but he doesn't seem anywhere near the first team picture.

I like the signing of Telles, having options with him and Shaw is great. Imagine having a great option on the right. Full backs have become so important being able to choose between a defensive or attacking fullback is great for us tactically.

Nail on the head. Competition for Aaron would be ideal.

One of either Telles/Shaw can work for different games and I expect a more attacking right back would help the fluidity on the right side when needed.

 

[predator]

I try my best to never slate united players but at times AWB, being on the pitch, benefits the opposition more than us.
Watching him receive a football is like watching my puppy receive a tennis ball in my kitchen (he can keep up with it but he can't hold onto it and walk without dropping it).

Don't get me wrong Aaron is one of, if not, the best defensive right back ever. Watching him time a slide tackle against some of the best wingers ever, to perfection, is orgasmic.

Its depressing because he gets loads of space for instance tonight - bruno would give him it after seeing no one was on (wolves probably were instructed to mark everyone but AWB).


Like so many others, I hope these limitations to his game can be overcome through training but as someone who has played football, I just can't see it.

I regret posting this because I genuinely like the man. He comes across as so humble and just wants to do well for the team.

 

[Foxbatt]

I thought he was supposed to be quick but the way Traore went away from him would be like Bolt running against Jon Moss.

 

[Tarrou]

Its because Telles is passed the ball 5 yards from Rashford who is standing almost on top of him, with Matic and Pogba close by. Theres no room for him to get the space in because we clog it with our own attacking players and the opponent obviously have a bunch of players defending against them. Therefore there is loads of room on the right, where you dont have to play against Rashford, Pogba, Martial etc passing triangles. He gets all that time and space because of the switch of play and us having no threat from our right winger. Fernandes was pulling wide to give him a passing option behind him and crossing from there when AWB found him. Greenwood offers nothing from the actual right wing. He's all about getting the hell off the wing and into central areas to make a run or shoot

If we had for example James Justin from Leicester at right back, do you think teams are suddenly going to think our right side is as dangerous as our left side with Rashford, Pogba etc?

Nope. It would take a bunch of players just like the reason we're far more dangerous on the left.

The bigger the threat we have the more teams will pay attention to it. Suffice to say, this includes the right back and/or the right wing.

If our right back could cross they wouldn't let him stand there in so much space, as we could easily exploit that.

 

[croadyman]

Nail on the head. Competition for Aaron would be ideal.

One of either Telles/Shaw can work for different games and I expect a more attacking right back would help the fluidity on the right side when needed.

Yeah it's staggering how Ole cannot seem to see the benefit of him being pushed for his position, he is looking far too comfortable there and needs challenging from someone else whether that's Laird or looking to sign someone.

 

[Obiorahking_]

So he put in 2 and 0 found their man

Telles put in 7 and 0 found their man despite some of them being decent balls

He tended to play the ball back to Fernandes, who is a better crosser than most fullbacks and its also something City do we De Bruyne, their RB passing back to DB to cross. Fernandes tried 3 and 1 found a United teammate

So that begs the question, do you really want AWB or Walker crossing when they can pass back to Fernandes or De Bruyne who cross better than 95% of fullbacks? If you do then you really are confused about what you want

Guy he cant play football. No big problems with him defensively but as a footballer he is lacking in almost every department.

0 technique/control
0 burst
0 skill
0 craft
pretty decent off ball movement
substandard passing
0 crossing accuracy
0 confidence

I’m biased because I was a big Valencia fan but I do believe that it’s undeniable that at least he could show a change of pace to get a cross in the box. AWB cant even do that reliably. To make matters worse, there seems to be a big drop in his urgency to get back on defense. I can’t stand him man. We definitely need someone to compete with him because his lack of footballing ability is downright unacceptable and borderline insulting.

 

[WR10]

Looked explosive and athletic today. This 22 year old is going to be world class at 27.

 

[Maroo]

That was as woeful an attacking performance as you could get - in a game which was crying out for one from our right back. His reluctance to cross and play quick passes made so many players look poorer, not least poor Greenwood. Absolutely have to get an attacking right back to compete with him.