[sp_107]

Not if his attacking play doesn’t improve .

We spent 80M on Maguire and still want someone to improve him
We spent 50M on a right back and still not convinced
We spent 15M on a right winger but we still need an upgrade in that position.

Thought above 3 players were not as bad as some think but I am worrying about our transfer policies to be honest.

 

[robinrooney]

I like AWB. He is a very good defender and has improved us down that side immeasurably. Problem is that he offers practically nothing going forward. Full backs need to be able to defend and attack these days. He's just like Valencia. Gets into a decent position, then turns back and passes inside. He's actually done quite well on the odd occasions that he's taken people on. Wish he'd attempt it more often. definitely needs to work on this aspect of his game.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

We spent 80M on Maguire and still want someone to improve him
We spent 50M on a right back and still not convinced
We spent 15M on a right winger but we still need an upgrade in that position.

Thought above 3 players were not as bad as some think but I am worrying about our transfer policies to be honest.

Why? They may not be the absolute best players in their position in world football (you can't get those) but the likes of AWB and Maguire have improved our defence massively. We let in 30 goals less than the season before while DDG's been having a mare. James was bought as a squad player to begin with and even said he didn't expect to be playing as much as he has.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

He's improved us defensively but not seen any improvement in our attacking game down that flank. Fullback is an incredibly hard position to play these days in fairness. There's never been a time where more is expected of your fullback. They literally do everything these days.

Willing to give AWB another season but if his passing, touch and final ball aren't improved by this time next year I think we'll be looking at somebody else, either from within the club or maybe a transfer. At the moment I think £50m is looking steep for what we've seen.

 

[Adam-Utd]

His link up play has only been a criticism since the last 2-3 weeks when he clearly looked very tired and leggy.

I think we can see that tiredness does make a huge issue as even people like Bruno can hardly control the ball. Does that mean we need to replace him too?

3/4 of the season he's been fine and practically running the right flank by himself, and before lockdown his attacking play was coming along nicely IMO.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

His link up play has only been a criticism since the last 2-3 weeks when he clearly looked very tired and leggy.

I think we can see that tiredness does make a huge issue as even people like Bruno can hardly control the ball. Does that mean we need to replace him too?

3/4 of the season he's been fine and practically running the right flank by himself, and before lockdown his attacking play was coming along nicely IMO.

Yeah he relies on his speed to get past players and get a cross in and when he's fatigued he's unable to do that successfully.

 

[Strelok]

I like AWB. He is a very good defender and has improved us down that side immeasurably. Problem is that he offers practically nothing going forward. Full backs need to be able to defend and attack these days. He's just like Valencia. Gets into a decent position, then turns back and passes inside. He's actually done quite well on the odd occasions that he's taken people on. Wish he'd attempt it more often. definitely needs to work on this aspect of his game.

Tbh it's a difficult choice. Unless a defender has an attacking output great enough most coaches will chose a good defender first. Of course it's the best to have someone good in both but it's just incredibly hard to find one these days.

And in big matches against the best attackers you'd see the importance of a good defender.

I'm happy with AWB, at least I don't have to worry about Sterling, Mane etc. when we face Liverpool and City.

 

[FrankDrebin]

We spent 80M on Maguire and still want someone to improve him
We spent 50M on a right back and still not convinced
We spent 15M on a right winger but we still need an upgrade in that position.

Thought above 3 players were not as bad as some think but I am worrying about our transfer policies to be honest.

Buy a 90 million pound midfielder and we still need 1 or 2 midfielders to get the best out of him.

 

[Strelok]

We spent 80M on Maguire and still want someone to improve him
We spent 50M on a right back and still not convinced
We spent 15M on a right winger but we still need an upgrade in that position.

Thought above 3 players were not as bad as some think but I am worrying about our transfer policies to be honest.

Well it's the caf I think.

If TAA plays for us half the cad would like to get rid of him because of his championship defense ability. And get in some mythical RB who is godlike both in attack and defense. Especially after letting in goals like the one Rashford scored couple years ago. I'm sure there'd be like 10 threads asking for his head after such error.

 

[Dolf]

Defensively still the best RB in the world for me.

 

[Blood Mage]

I was thinking he would be great in a 3 man right sided cb position.

Good shout yeah that could be his best role. I'm not sure we'll ever use that system much though sadly.

 

[Blood Mage]

He just doesn't have the aerial ability or positional sense to play as a CB.

Positioning can be coached and a lack of aerial ability won't matter too much if your defensive partner is good in the air. I see him as a future CB personally.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Defensively still the best RB in the world for me.

Well said, a bit of positivity in the mire of criticism

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Positioning can be coached and a lack of aerial ability won't matter too much if your defensive partner is good in the air. I see him as a future CB personally.

Doubt it but he'll develop into a top class RB.He's endured a tricky season and year TBF. The whole team has and we've secured 3rd place with him being a big part of it

 

[robinrooney]

Tbh it's a difficult choice. Unless a defender has an attacking output great enough most coaches will chose a good defender first. Of course it's the best to have someone good in both but it's just incredibly hard to find one these days.

And in big matches against the best attackers you'd see the importance of a good defender.

I'm happy with AWB, at least I don't have to worry about Sterling, Mane etc. when we face Liverpool and City.

Very good point there. He defends very well against the top wide players, can't fault him there. Just looking at the last few games where the MF looked knackered, we needed another point of attack and AWB got into very good positions numerous times, just to turn and pass back/sideways. He's actually not too bad at taking people on, apparently started out as a wide player. just wish he'd do it more often.

 

[FootyGirl88]

 

[Ekeke]

Our defence has improved immensely this season but people don't really seem to rate our best CB, our second best CB or even our GK. Does this say anything about how important this man is to our defence?

Yes. Even the people who do rate the CBs highly dont tend to give AWB enough credit

AWB cranks out more defensive actions than any RBs we have had previously, also more than the other fullbacks at clubs we get compared to. So of course he's a big reason why we have a good defensive record. When you compare the amount of defensive actions the combination of Liverpool's CBs complete compared to ours for example, ours have to do less. If AWB wasnt there and it was one of our right backs from previous years, Young or Valencia, they'd have to deal with more and the more you have to do the more likely you are to make mistakes.

Truth is they still made a number of mistakes this season despite having less defensive work to do. Thats one of the reasons that people are concerned. If they had more to do, they'd very likely continue making those mistakes and our record wouldnt have been as good

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Great defender. Less than average footballer. We knew what we were getting. Let's hope if we do get Sancho he can stay back more and do what he's good at.

 

[Ekeke]

Great defender. Less than average footballer. We knew what we were getting. Let's hope if we do get Sancho he can stay back more and do what he's good at.

I think this is the key for AWB. He needs a quality RW who is good from RW areas. Greenwood is great from in and around the penalty box when he's joined up from the right side, but if AWB gives him the ball on the RW he doesn't have a lot of ideas and will often give it back or play it simply to another player. Between the two of them there isnt enough progress down the wing.

Greenwood on the other hand needs a TAA so he can pass the ball and then get towards the middle to get his shot away when he receives the ball or gets on the end of a cross.

 

[Verminator]

From the club website:

Manchester United's Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been confirmed as the Premier League's leading player in two different categories.
The 22-year-old has topped the charts for both tackles and blocks, after making more of both than any other player in the division.

The full-back made five tackles during the 2-0 victory over Leicester City which concluded our domestic campaign on Sunday, taking him to a whopping 129 for the season as a whole.

That ensured he finished one clear of the Foxes' Wilfred Ndidi (128), who was the Premier League's most-prolific tackler last term.

Wan-Bissaka, who signed from Crystal Palace last summer, also leads the way when it comes to blocks (according to football stats site FBREF.com), making 101 across the 38 games, which places him one ahead of Norwich City's right-back Max Aarons


Well done Aaron.

 

[siw2007]

Aaron has had a brilliant debut season. Very consistent, loads of great performances especially those where he totally shut down Sterling. Not only is he rock solid at the back, but he is great at carrying the ball forwards too, he needs to get to the byline more though as he has shown that if he can get there l, he can deliver a great cross. However, like other positions in the team, the last 4 or so games has shown that we need an alternative off the bench, hopefully Laird is the player who can step up and provide competition and cover for that position.

 

[Alemar]

Very good tackle and block statistics for Bissaka. It doesn’t improve his attacking prowess, but at least it confirms defensive strength. Good foundation

 

[Rolaholic]

I don't think it's a coincidence that we conceded 30 less goals this season in more games played after bringing him in along with Maguire. 48 goals conceded in 58 matches was one of the better defensive records in Europe this season compared to 78 conceded in 53 games last year hence why our GD was so much better than Chelseas.

He has room to improve attacking wise for sure but all the shouts to drop or replace him with someone else or Laird are ridiculous at the moment. He's earned the starting spot wholeheartedly as well as a chance to work on his weaknesses.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Great defender. Less than average footballer. We knew what we were getting. Let's hope if we do get Sancho he can stay back more and do what he's good at.

Recently I've been checking this thread every day, I saw you posted same things on Bissaka. You are so obsessed with the player.

Give it a rest! Take a break a little bit can't you, may be instead of everyday do it weekly.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

Unless a defender has an attacking output great enough most coaches will chose a good defender first.

That depends on the philosophy of the coach but generally not sure if that's true...

Positioning can be coached

And this is why

 

[Strelok]

That depends on the philosophy of the coach but generally not sure if that's true...

And this is why

Tbh it's a difficult choice. Unless a defender has an attacking output great enough most coaches will chose a good defender first. Of course it's the best to have someone good in both but it's just incredibly hard to find one these days.

And in big matches against the best attackers you'd see the importance of a good defender.

I'm happy with AWB, at least I don't have to worry about Sterling, Mane etc. when we face Liverpool and City.

First I said most.

Second, you really think generally a coach would choose an okay offensively but meh defensively FB over a defensively solid FB ?
Like Young over AWB ?

 

[romufc]

We spent 80M on Maguire and still want someone to improve him
We spent 50M on a right back and still not convinced
We spent 15M on a right winger but we still need an upgrade in that position.

Thought above 3 players were not as bad as some think but I am worrying about our transfer policies to be honest.

We spent £80m which was over paid, we all know that. We needed a CB - look how City, Chelsea, Arsenal are struggling for a CB. Maguire has been a good buy

AWB was most peoples choice for POTY before lockdown, fans need to stop judging him on his last 5 games.

James, was always a gamble. No one ever, even Ole mentioned that he is the answer, he was always a squad player.

Worrying? forgetting Bruno in there?

3/4 are first names on the team sheet....

 

[Rolaholic]

The fact that he's likely only going to improve with more experience is a beautiful prospect

 

[Member 109952]

I'm happy enough with him, these days you tend to get full backs that are overly attacking, overly defensive, or are good at a bit of both but don't really excel at either. It's rare that you get someone like Ashley Cole or Evra who excel at both.

I'd like AWB to be better in attack, but defensively he's so good that it makes up for some of his attacking deficiencies. And he's not terrible at attack either - can dribble decently, can get to the byline, decent cross - he just looks a bit ungainly at times and misplaces passes. But he is only 22 and I think he can improve that side of his game with time.

Think overall both him and Maguire have been very good purchases, I was a little skeptical of both but they've made our defence a lot better.

 

[Bebestation]

Pep's team doesnt have attacking minded fullbacks.

I'd happily have defensive fullbacks on both sides if we work towards building our attack more cohesive in other areas such as central areas etc.

 

[Mcking]

Tbh our defence was third in the PL and he's the one I'm worried the least in our four defenders. That speak volumes imo.

A FB/WB is still a defender first and attacker second so for me he's good enough. At the moment it's basically impossible to find one that is really good in both anyway. Even Real Madrid in their galacticos days had to live with Arberloa.

Defender or attacker, a FB still has to be a footballer. Forget crosses, dribbles and assists, the problem with Wan-Bissaka is that he isn't very good at football.

 

[macheda14]

Defender or attacker, a FB still has to be a footballer. Forget crosses, dribbles and assists, the problem with Wan-Bissaka is that he isn't very good at football.

I mean he showed himself to be getting better at the attacking part of his game from about Feb until maybe Southampton. He’s quite good at dribbling and was definitely getting better at linking up and crossing, then he just looked completely shattered.

 

[Mcking]

I mean he showed himself to be getting better at the attacking part of his game from about Feb until maybe Southampton. He’s quite good at dribbling and was definitely getting better at linking up and crossing, then he just looked completely shattered.

He was starting from a ridiculously low base, and I wouldn't say he got a lot better than he used to be, just that he was entrusted more responsibility with the ball. I don't think he will ever get to a level that I'd consider good enough. Apart from his tackling which is good, he has close to no technical ability as a footballer, in attack nor in the build-up.

His weight of passing is not as good as I'd want that of a fullback at this level to be. He struggles to get any sort of movement on the ball, and he is not very capable of bending the ball round an opponent. He is very slow off the mark when he has the ball, and controls it to the wrong side of his body most times. He dribbles, but he doesn't quite dribble past the man. He struggles to carry the ball along a straight line, and for a player who looks quick across the ground, he runs with the ball at a very slow pace. All these are technical flaws that I doubt he would ever escape from. He is just him right now, and he is not suddenly going to turn into another footballer.

He has done well to make himself a Premier League footballer, but he is just not very good at the actual football, and I reckon he won't ever be.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Outside of Bruno he's been the best addition for a while. Stays fit as well!

 

[Glorio]

I get that AWB wasn't very forward thinking, particularly at the start of the season, but I don't subscribe to this view that he's a poor footballer. I say this with a number of points in mind.

Fatigue:
He started giving away passes about the same time as much more established passers in the team. Even his famed tackling took a nosedive, so why is it put down to fatigue for some players, and not for the other? Particularly considering his position means he needs to get up and down the pitch quickly and repetitively through a match?

Passing prior to the team running on fumes:
Yes, he did not support the attack as much as we would have wanted before the break, but he wasn't giving the ball away - even against high pressing teams like City and his passing was generally decent.

Attacking Success:
After the break, and just before the whole team gassed, when he decided to start joining in the attack, he started adding a lot more up front and his passing and crossing were fine. Again, as the team tired though, so did he, and the passing of the whole team slumped along with his (apart from a few players up front). With rest, it will improve again I'm sure.

Ungainly running 'gait':
We can all agree he looks ungainly when carrying the ball, but it doesn't mean he has poor control considering the ball doesn't get nicked off him that often. The appearance doesn't always tell the whole story. That way of running with the ball is similar to that of many lanky and long legged players. See Crouch, or better still Arsenal's Kanu for instance: they looked both ungainly but had very good ball control.

I suspect that even as Wan Bissaka improves offensively, his dribbling will still appear ungainly. If he beats his markers and puts good crosses in which lead to goals, that's fine by me.

 

[He'sRaldo]

It's very important in a team to have players that are capable of dominating the opposition in one way or another. For Martial it's 1v1 dribbling, for Rashford it's speed, for Greenwood it's finishing, for Pogba it's a lot of things, and for Maguire it's heading.

AWB also has the ability to be better than his opponent for most matches which is a very rare and valuable asset, and a fantastic base for a 22 year old footballer to build from. He doesn't need to be the most complete player as long as he can contribute and get involved in attack; somewhat like a reverse Pogba.

 

[Strelok]

Defender or attacker, a FB still has to be a footballer. Forget crosses, dribbles and assists, the problem with Wan-Bissaka is that he isn't very good at football.

You think defending and tackling is not football?

You use the wrong word here imo. Yes he's not good with the ball but saying he's not good at football is completely wrong I think.

 

[Bobcat]

His value was immense when faced with attacking wingers like Sterling. I don't understand the sudden abuse here. After Maguire, he's been the persistent name on the team sheet ever game.

This. People are so obsessed with attacking full backs they completely forget he locks down that right side completely and has had most dangerous LWs in his pocket all year. Hes still got the highest takle succes rate in Europe and while 7 assists in the league is not amazing he has time on his side

 

[gajender]

This. People are so obsessed with attacking full backs they completely forget he locks down that right side completely and has had most dangerous LWs in his pocket all year. Hes still got the highest takle succes rate in Europe and while 7 assists in the league is not amazing he has time on his side

He didn't anyway and assist are not the only measure of attacking contribution from fullbacks it's just part of it, Shaw while assisting less is still contributing more to the team in attack and is also competent in defense.

 

[eire-red]

Long gone are the days when before the big game you're nervous about Young/Valencia/Darmian getting done down the flanks by the likes of Sanchez or Hazard all game.

Shaw and AWB are as good 1 on 1 defenders as you'll find. Shaw is a better footballer, but AWB has steadily improved throughout the season. He's still racked up a few assists (probably 5 or 6 if I had to guess?), and his crossing is less erratic and wasteful.

He's not the finished article by any means, and still has loads to prove in terms of nailing down that spot. What I will say is that he has that natural defensive awareness that's difficult to coach and his ability to sniff out danger is great.

If he can improve his attacking and general link up play then he's gonna be a great player for us. As far as debut seasons go he's been very solid I think.

In 2/3 years there's gonna be a real battle down the right flank between himself and Laird for that starting spot.