Unpopular (AKA fickle) opinion time on AWB.....

[TheMagicFoolBus]

He's an undeniably brilliant 1v1 defender but that strength has masked deficiencies in his ability to read the game and contribute in an attacking sense. He reminds me a bit of Bailly - physically dominant but utterly lacking in their ability to understand how to position yourself. Unless he gains some tactical nous, he strikes me as the sort of player who may age really poorly as he inevitably loses half a yard of pace.

 

[Red Devil 26]

How many times has he switched off when the ball's on the other side of the pitch and ignored the opponents wing back? I remember Solly March running riot down that side in the Brighton game. Feel like I've seen plenty of similar instances too. All this talk of him being a great defensive full back is nonsense. He only excels at slide tackling and using his pace in one on one situations. Really poor footballer.

 

[17Larsson]

How can he not look over his shoulder once during that move for the first goal? So frustrating

 

[simplyared]

His movement just doesn't sit right with me. We need a replacement pronto!

 

[Judas]

Impressively bad, he wasn't alone in that, but in every department he looked clueless. He just doesn't look anywhere close to the required level apart from his very good tackling being the obvious exception.

 

[Ballache]

They played the same ball about 7 times before he noticed it. They managed to score twice. Brilliant one on one defender but he'll be on the bench as soon as a modern manager comes in.

 

[bugmat]

We knew this before he signed. Hopefully he can improve on the ball.

Unlike Young or Valencia he's so good at tackling I can just about forgive how bad he looks on the ball.

Neither Young or Valencia EVER looked this bad, or as scared of their own shadow and the ball. The lad takes ages to control and make a simple pass inside or down the line. And is constantly out of position forcing him into sliding tackles.

Fantastic last ditch tackler though.

 

[morbidsaint]

wow (streamable.com)

 

[Lee565]

Him and Maguire have been monumental waste of money spent by ole, I don't he gets enough flack for these two signings, if they were both foreign I'm sure the media would highlight it more.

 

[JohnnyKills]

He's an undeniably brilliant 1v1 defender but that strength has masked deficiencies in his ability to read the game and contribute in an attacking sense. He reminds me a bit of Bailly - physically dominant but utterly lacking in their ability to understand how to position yourself. Unless he gains some tactical nous, he strikes me as the sort of player who may age really poorly as he inevitably loses half a yard of pace.

Agree.

He is brilliant at tackling, the core part of his job, but mediocre at all other parts.

Can't help but think there are better right-backs available atm. Let's hope he kicks on.

 

[dablem_10]

this signing looks like me first time playing football manager. I searched pace and acceleration over 15 and tackling over 15 too, sorted by tackling and surprised this good player is so cheap. Later realised there is needed positioning, anticipation, concentration, off the ball movement and adequate technical level. I know football is much more complex, but take it as metaphor to incompetence or inexperience.

 

[JohnnyKills]

Just admit he's not a RWB, never has been. He cant cross or attack well enough to be

How is this a defence of him?

 

[kundalini]

Transfers are difficult.

If you buy a young player for a significant fee, like Shaw, or in this case Wan-Bissaka, to be a starter, you have to hope he can improve weaknesses in his game within a relatively short space of time.

It is frustrating that Wan-Bissaka keeps making the same mistakes over and over again.

His positional play is horrendous. Far too often he is asleep when crosses come in from the other side. He is poor aerially and not comfortable in possession. His offside trap tends to play opponents onside.

Since we lack a serious alternative at the moment, just got to hope he learns from his errors.

We spent £45m on a player that is incredible at tackling and below average at everything else. It doesn't reflect well on AWB or the coaching staff, that almost 18 months after joining, he's still such a flawed player.

 

[Ekeke]

Neither Young or Valencia EVER looked this bad, or as scared of their own shadow and the ball. The lad takes ages to control and make a simple pass inside or down the line. And is constantly out of position forcing him into sliding tackles.

Fantastic last ditch tackler though.

They were usually worse defensively than that performance but better on the ball. Smalling would cover them all the time on the right

 

[manunited1919]

He's an undeniably brilliant 1v1 defender but that strength has masked deficiencies in his ability to read the game and contribute in an attacking sense. He reminds me a bit of Bailly - physically dominant but utterly lacking in their ability to understand how to position yourself. Unless he gains some tactical nous, he strikes me as the sort of player who may age really poorly as he inevitably loses half a yard of pace.

But if you remember the first PSG game, he was a beast defensively. He was also excellent defensively against RBL the first game we played them. I agree there is a lacking of understanding of position, and perhaps he is also unable to sense danger in certain fluid situations when we are not just sitting back defending.
He needs better coaching if he is to improve.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

But if you remember the first PSG game, he was a beast defensively. He was also excellent defensively against RBL the first game we played them. I agree there is a lacking of understanding of position, and perhaps he is also unable to sense danger in certain fluid situations when we are not just sitting back defending.
He needs better coaching if he is to improve.

Don't get me wrong, I think he's excellent defensively! But I think that much of that excellence stems from his ability to recover via pace and defend 1v1. My point is that were he a bit savvier in terms of his positioning, many of the last-ditch challenges he is forced into could be avoided entirely. He definitely ball-watches quite a bit but 8-9 times out of 10 is able to recover - all I'm saying is that if he could cut the ball-watching out and position himself more intelligently, the team would do better and he'd be more likely to have a sustainable career at the top level.

 

[Enigma_87]

Many knew his issues going forward. What we didn't however is how bad he has become at defending either.

 

[Wayne's World]

His positioning is awful, it was never this bad last season but he's regressed badly in that

 

[Xeno]

He’s great when the player is in front of him. He’s had some of the worlds top forwards in his pocket.

Wank when he has to play 15 yards further forward and has to cover with runners in behind.

Atrocious positioning.

Mourinho dream.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

He’s great when the player is in front of him. He’s had some of the worlds top forwards in his pocket.

Wank when he has to play 15 yards further forward and has to cover with runners in behind.

Atrocious positioning.

Mourinho dream.

This is actually a brilliant point and something that hadn't occurred to me - is it clear that AWB was bought for Solksjaer, or was he someone that Mourinho had scouted and pushed to purchase? Not trying to troll, I'm just genuinely curious if anyone has any insignt on the timeline.

 

[G-MUFC]

Opposition teams seem to know that they can get joy pressing him when he has the ball. His passing ability is poor, especially when under pressure.

I hope tonight's poor display was just a one off!

 

[Xeno]

This is actually a brilliant point and something that hadn't occurred to me - is it clear that AWB was bought for Solksjaer, or was he someone that Mourinho had scouted and pushed to purchase? Not trying to troll, I'm just genuinely curious if anyone has any insignt on the timeline.

We’ve got the Mourinho requested backline of Shaw Maguire Lindof AWB and we’re still shit so what do I know haha.

He’s deffo the right “profile” for Ed though.

 

[matt23]

Kid can recover and tackle. Not much else to see is there.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

We’ve got the Mourinho requested backline of Shaw Maguire Lindof AWB and we’re still shit so what do I know haha.

He’s deffo the right “profile” for Ed though.

Yeah and even so on paper he's not an unreasonable purchase IMO - you'd hope that he could improve some of the deficiencies in his game with good coaching but if anything it looks like he's regressing. I do think you're spot on to point out that Mourinho would be making him into a formidable player with his tactics.

 

[cyril C]

How many times has he switched off when the ball's on the other side of the pitch and ignored the opponents wing back? I remember Solly March running riot down that side in the Brighton game. Feel like I've seen plenty of similar instances too. All this talk of him being a great defensive full back is nonsense. He only excels at slide tackling and using his pace in one on one situations. Really poor footballer.

Unfortunately I have to agree with you. 1st goal was a clear ball watching. If a normal CB asked to play as wingback, then I can understand why he tends to tug inside, but AWB has been a fullback all the time, so was he marking an invisible opponent?

 

[Nori-]

One of the best in the league defensively, absolutely hopeless going forward.

Maybe its time to give Williams a pop on the right more often or even get Dalot back in Jan and make both compete.

Either way, something has to happen because we lose so much attacking ability on the right because of AWB.

 

[VictoriaRed]

Incredible athlete, clueless footballer.

 

[hubbuh]

It was mad hearing the audio of RB Leipzig's team shout 'ANGELINO!!' any time they got on the ball in the first half. He's not only seriously hampering any sort of threat down the right wing, but he is now being actively targeted as a major weak point defensively too. And it works a fecking treat for the opposition when executed properly. His sixth sense for danger is basically non existent. Looking like yet another expensive mistake.

EDIT: What are the chances of Ethan Laird getting any game time? I don't see the point in giving minutes to TFM who is almost as bad as Wan-Bissaka on the ball but nowhere near as good at tackling. TFM's career at United is dead in the water isn't it?!

 

[Bwuk]

It was mad hearing the audio of RB Leipzig's team shout 'ANGELINO!!' any time they got on the ball in the first half. He's not only seriously hampering any sort of threat down the right wing, but he is now being actively targeted as a major weak point defensively too. And it works a fecking treat for the opposition when executed properly. His sixth sense for danger is basically non existent. Looking like yet another expensive mistake.

Exactly. He has zero awareness. He’s completely reactionary.

Frustrating we have no other RB.

 

[hubbuh]

Exactly. He has zero awareness. He’s completely reactionary.

Frustrating we have no other RB.

I just edited my post but, what's the situation with Ethan Laird? I appreciate he's still only 19 but he was supposed to be one of the most promising prospects from the academy. He couldn't have done much worse than whatever the feck that was from Wan-Bissaka last night.

 

[Adisa]

He used to be a winger.
What I find shocking is that his deficiencies were very apparent while he was at Palace then we spent 50m on him.
You have to ask yourself who makes these decisions? There is a reason why Southgate didn't give him time of day and he opted for Congo.
He is one outstanding quality, he is incredible while defending one on one. As part of a unit, he's tactically wanting and don't even get me started with the ball at his feet in the opponent's half. It is far far from being enough.

 

[JJ12]

Fantastic one on one defender but is that seriously enough when the rest of his game is below average.

The amount of times he gets sucked in and leaves players free at the back post is annoying. We had 5 at the back ffs.

 

[JPRouve]

Exactly. He has zero awareness. He’s completely reactionary.

Frustrating we have no other RB.

Which is a trait shared with Maguire. Funnily enough McTominay and Pogba have that issue too and that's why I get nervous whenever we try to play anything else than a low and compact block. If you want to be really upset next time focus on these players when the opposition is on the ball, AWB, Maguire, Pogba and McTominay will ball watch and not care one bit about what is happening in their areas.

 

[Oranges038]

He was awful last night, at fault for all three goals in my opinion. Had and absolute nightmare of a game where all the bad aspects of his play were shown up in one game.

Overall. He seems to have no football brain, he cannot dribble, he cannot pass, he cannot cross and his first touch is awful. Probably why he was dropped back from being a winger. Defensive positioning and awareness are completely non existent, yeah he can defend well one on one (to me thats a prerequisite for a defender, if you can't do it your not one). He can recover and slide tackle, but he wouldn't have to if he would position himself better.

 

[Romez]

We should buy Max Aarons as competition/cover.

 

[GueRed]

Antonio Valencia was much better all round

 

[Gary_Walsh_Nou_Camp_Hell]

I'd try him in a deep defensive midfield role. Roaming around tackling and breaking things up. Might suit him.

 

[JakeTheRed]

He isn't as useless as people on here are making him out to be. The guy is fantastic at defending 1v1 and has nullified players like Mbappé, Sterling and more.

However, I agree that his awareness and attacking play are lacklustre. I don't think he has good enough dribbling/crossing to offer much going forwards. But, I do think the awareness/football knowledge side of his game can be coached into him, remember, he's only 23. Perhaps in 2/3 years when he starts to hit his prime he may be a fantastic full back.

Questions to be asked, but we shouldn't be demanding his head right now, there are larger holes in our team that need patching. i.e. the centre backs.

 

[Maagge]

I'd try him in a deep defensive midfield role. Roaming around tackling and breaking things up. Might suit him.

Nah, you can't be serious about putting him in as a DM. Yeah he can tackle, but DMs need to be comfortable with the ball as well (and who would you have him over in a midfield three?). Furthermore, you're rarely marking a specific player as a DM but are marking areas and channels instead. His positioning simply isn't good enough for that.

 

[JPRouve]

Nah, you can't be serious about putting him in as a DM. Yeah he can tackle, but DMs need to be comfortable with the ball as well (and who would you have him over in a midfield three?). Furthermore, you're rarely marking a specific player as a DM but are marking areas and channels instead. His positioning simply isn't good enough for that.

And in a roaming role you are exposing his main flaw which makes the suggestion baffling. When a player has poor awareness you don't give him more ground to cover and random players to mark.