....the point being? Dalot vs AWB is not a debate. Unless he sensationally comes back a different player, AWB clearly does not cut it. That is neither here nor there with regard to whether Dalot does.
Dalot had more than a few stinkers last season. That was exactly the problem - his bottom level was really bad, especially defensively, and he showed it too frequently. His player ratings on this site provides a rough guide. He did not have a single 6 or better rating from 12 March onwards (which unfortunately is as far back the results can be viewed on his player page), and was 4 or worse seven times in that timespan. True enough, our back 4 last season wasn't the easiest to play in, but then again he was often one of the reasons the back 4 was bad.
Parting remark to this discussion in general. Some people seem to find it unsatisfying to merely note that Dalot is now playing at a level that makes him a viable starter at RB, and launch into speculation that he could have done this earlier if he had a) been given a chance and b) we had better coaching/management. Pure codswallop in my opinion. He's a 23-year old player who quite obviously is a much more developed player today than he was 3 or 2 or 1 year ago. He showed nothing in 19/20 to merit any notion that he was ready for prime time. His loan season at AC Milan wasn't any more sensational than that United were willing to sell him for 15m, which neither AC Milan nor anyone else was prepared to pay. What do you think that says? And we know how good he was last year, because he played enough to show it. So, what's the point of entirely wishful thinking-based conjecture merely to reinforce an already deeply held conviction of previous mismanagement's shortcomings?
Worse, people mix this up with an entirely unrelated issue; AWBs shortcomings. Let me put it his way: If management sat down in the summer of 2019 and made a completely accurate assessment of Dalot's trajectory and potential, concluding that he'd be ready for prime time in 2022, they would still have done exactly what they did in that summer: Gone out and bought a new RB. Because you can't get by for three seasons with, what, Ashley Young basically. They just made the wrong choice in who they got. Which has feck-all to do with how they rated Dalot.