Most likely our most improved player under ETH. Not great defensively today but he is much more assured in possession nowadays.
29
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 28
- Clean sheets
- 4
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 5
-
In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
The second goal I get but blaming him for the first seems very harsh. He can't win every header and given where on the pitch he was battling for it I think he's entitled to think his team mates can stop him losing out turning directly into a goal.
Thought he played well today and was one of only a few players that didn't resemble a pensioner in movement.
He's the most reliable player performance wise we have of late.
Very solid today defensively, more than a couple important break ups. He is also much more confident in the attacking third. Huge improvement. I feel he is our most consistent player this year
I never forget listening to a podcast where a leading coach said he’d prefer players who are ‘coachable’. AWB is definitely in the ‘coachable’ bracket. He’s raw still and has so much development in him. He’s come on leaps and bounds under Ten Hag
Best player this season
@The Firestarter You mentioned that AWB can't function past the halfway line but I'd say he was very useful in the final third against Forest. He linked up well with Bruno, Antony and made a few good crosses in the box, better crosses than any of Antony's attempts really
Haters gon hate?
Last position? We have two options but neither are top class. Dalot is just decent at everything and Awb is an enigma who has some big strengths and grading weaknesses.
If we’d signed him last January and he was performing like this then everyone would love him. It’s clear that’s some of you have written him off a long time ago and consider this to be a purple patch despite the fact he keeps improving, clearly has the right mentality and is often amongst our best performing players.
It’s crazy that he’s gone from being available for sale, to first choice - and rightfully so, he’s been outperforming Dalot for quite awhile now.
He's not as bad on the ball as it's made out but he's not as good defensively either. He's a great one on one defender but he gets caught out positionally and is terrible in the air for someone who is pretty tall.
Thought he was MotM yesterday overall.
It's absolutely mental to blame him for the first goal in my opinion.
No one expects him to win every header but AWB losing aerial duels has become a pattern, one that in this match alone lead to 2 goals from Forest. This is quite clearly a major weakness of his that could cost us games.
It's not a mistake though, mistakes are like the ones Walker and Alexander-Arnold have made today.
We can put to bed AWB being a weak spot in the team, he has been excellent.
It’s true he is not good in the air, but that should not be seen as an issue for a fullback.
It’s true he is not good in the air, but that should not be seen as an issue for a fullback.
We were 2nd best to 3 challenges in a row and Onana's attempt to save wasn't brilliant. Plenty of blame to pass around there and i wouldn't be too harsh on any one player but I wouldn't be happy with the team as a whole.
Heading and aerial stuff like covering the back post feels like wan bisakka's last severe weakness. He's improved a fair bit but yesterday wasn't good. He did well enough otherwise that i woudln't be critical of the overall performance though.
Of course it's still a mistake, any error in defense is one. The only difference is that mistakes caused by lack of ability like in AWB's case have a much higher chance of occuring than the occasional brain fart like Walker's mistake.
nonsense
Him and Antony make our right flank the most one footed in the league
Trying to converse in this thread
Don't understand the blame for the first goal. That was mostly rashford's fault.
He has improved in possession since 2 years ago. He is good at progressing the ball from defense when we are under pressure (like Valencia used to do), but his positioning is still awful many times throughout the game and his movement is still suspect. He is not a liability but he is not the future.
He has improved in possession since 2 years ago. He is good at progressing the ball from defense when we are under pressure (like Valencia used to do), but his positioning is still awful many times throughout the game and his movement is still suspect. He is not a liability but he is not the future.
I don't think losing that header had much to do with a lack of ability. If you rewatched that goal, his face was directly against the sunlight, and he even tried to cover his hand on his face to see where the ball was. I think the direct sunlight to his face probably affected his vision, causing him to lose that challenge.
Defending is done as a team. You can’t have two players going in for a challenge and no one tracking back. Just a glaring lack of awareness. And it’s not the first time either.
The second goal was a weird one. Everyone missed the ball apparently.
The second goal was a weird one. Everyone missed the ball apparently.
In general yeah but it was 3 challenges one right after the other and once Awoniyi was clear no one was going to catch him.
The first was a good clearing header from a corner - were not particularly good at them but i haven't seen many replays that go back to that point.
2nd was an aerial challenge between wan bisakka and whoever resulting in a good knock on
3rd was Awoniyi and Rashford with Awoniyi more alert, sharper and faster to the ball.
You cant win the ball on every corner but making life difficult and disrupting how good a clearance they can get is a skill that can be worked on and improved. Wan Bisakka would be on the low end of criticism for me but aerial challenges haven't traditionally been a strong suit and again maybe he doesn't do enough to make it difficult to get as good a knock on. Its nitpicking. Rashford was delivered a kick in the ass for being a bit casual out of possession and hopefully we wont see that again a while. He was more alert on later set pieces and in general.
Anything Onana does past that point is a bonus but again it wasn't the best reaction.
Well taken on their part though.
He's right up there with the most improved player under EtH in my eyes. Not saying he's world class or anything like that, but he wouldn't be easily or cheaply upgraded on.
Positioning and aerial ability is still suspect, but I think those are things that are easier to work on with good coaching. It's clear to see the focus has been on his forward contribution and ball retention, which has improved. With a few tweaks, he can be a very well rounded full-back.
I must say his humility to learn is something to be admired. When a new manager arrives and puts you on the bench for half a season. It easy to chose to walk away or just sit on your a*s and collect your cheque. He's accepted his limitations and attempted to work on them.
From Ole XI I felt ETH wouldn't want to work with long term (Maguire, Fred, Mctominay, Ronaldo, De Gea). He's the one who was dropped right away but he has fought his way back into the mix and cemented his spot in the first xi. Good on him.
From Ole XI I felt ETH wouldn't want to work with long term (Maguire, Fred, Mctominay, Ronaldo, De Gea). He's the one who was dropped right away but he has fought his way back into the mix and cemented his spot in the first xi. Good on him.
I've always kind of liked him. Not for his displays on the pitch, just because he seems to be a humble, nice guy. But you are right, this is really the impressive part.
Everyone thought he'd be one of the first players EtH would axe. And in the first half a year it really looked like that would be the case. But he fought back, trying to make the most of his chance at United. He really is a role model.
Arsenal 3:1 Man Utd
Yes he's good one-on-one but especially in the first half it was annoying that he never closed down Martinelli. Always gave him space to run at him and conceded 36 corners because of it. Whereas Dalot on the other side stayed close to Saka and never gave him an inch. Sure he's got recovery pace but he has to make a lot those last ditch tackles because he allows the winger to run inside the box and create pressure to our defense that could be avoided.
His lack of ability was exposed today. Dalot was far better despite being out of position.
It was a clear tactic to force Martinelli and Saka to go outside and cross with their weaker foot, the only difference was Martinelli was far more willing to cross with left foot than Saka was on his right.
It seems Wan-Bissaka and Dalot were told to not let Saka and Martinelli come inside under any circumstances.
Both were excellent today and weren't the reason we lost and actually should have been the reason we won.
He had a lot to do. First half he did let Martinelli get some crosses in, but with the alternative being coming inside onto his right foot and shooting you'd obviously prefer that. Second half he was flying in with tackles taking the ball.
5 tackles, 1 interception, 9 clearances and by far the most defending to do today of our backline.
Martinelli attempted 14 crosses, 3 finding a teammate in some way and 7 of them were corners. Mostly won from AWB blocking Martinelli's progress down the Arsenal left. It was back and forth
5 tackles, 1 interception, 9 clearances and by far the most defending to do today of our backline.
Martinelli attempted 14 crosses, 3 finding a teammate in some way and 7 of them were corners. Mostly won from AWB blocking Martinelli's progress down the Arsenal left. It was back and forth
I feel this is one of the things that's hard to talk about with AWB (and to some extent Dalot) especially when you look at the praise he gets. Yes AWB is fantastic at defending one-on-ones, and you wouldn't want anyone else to mark a tricky winger out of a game (see the Brighton match last year) but if we're building a team to be a really quick transition side you need a player that has better technique and is able to get the ball out of his feet a lot quicker. In the first half especially he was the obvious weak link in the build up phase. He's not got terrible technique it's just noticeably far less than someone like Martinez or Shaw and there was one instance in the first half where it took him about 3 touches to set himself up with the ball.
Shaw- at his very best- is a quality left back and a starter. I feel we need a better right back if we want to play this sort of football that EtH is intent on playing.
Moving the ball with a pass quickly without needing a touch is one of his strong points. Certainly better than Shaw at it. Shaw wants to take 4 touches before he'll move the ball
Might have scored today, I was so pissed Bruno took it off his foot he was coming onto the ball nicely
He did have a much better second half but i thought he was clearly the least competent defender with the ball in the first half (Dalot wasn't much better mind). I don't think he's a bad player at all it's just we could get so much more from that right side in an attacking sense with a more aggressive full back, especially if we want to play this way.
Think he and Dalot deserve a lot of credit today, both played well for me.
True. Credit to them.