Well, not much has changed. His entire United career he's been an excellent dueler, but absent-minded when it comes to positioning. The last bit is worrying and I'm unsure how coachable it is.
29
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 34
- Clean sheets
- 17
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 3
- Status
Anyone think he'll be in contention for the England squad this time around? Southgate has said in the past hes not good enough on the ball but surely he'll have seen the improvements this season. With the Walker scandal and Reece James only just back from injury I reckon theres a small chance.
No chance. His improvement on the ball has been exaggerated this season.
There has not been much improvement on the ball. The big difference is that EtH has removed AWB from the build up. He also appears to have a clearer instruction on where to move higher up the pitch.
He's probably been bumped up based on recent form, but there's still plenty of players ahead of him. James, Trippier, Walker and Trent will be preferred over him. Plus Ben White can play RB too.
Real Betis 0:1 Man Utd
2nd only to Maguire for me today, very nicely done.
He seems a foot taller, a yard faster, and in a very strong mental place since he came into the team after Christmas. Still work to be done, but he's getting forward much more effectively and seems twice as fit. ETH has worked magic with him as far as I'm concerned.
Something weird went on with him prior to flouncing out of the England camp at the World Cup, Sir Gareth Waistcoat has not picked him in the squad today so I imagine Ben White may have played his last for England under this manager.
Calm & focused performance. Great to see.
He's an enigma. His passing is weird and seems to be underhit or behind players at times.
But when he gets the ball he can run with it and some of his one touch stuff can be really good
But when he gets the ball he can run with it and some of his one touch stuff can be really good
Absolutely. I used to wince if somebody passed him the ball under pressure, but he seems really comfortable receiving the ball in tight spaces now, and usually makes the right decision. Hes not just back to the player he was when we signed him, he's actually significantly better imho. It's witchcraft!
Could be our most improved player under Teny and it's a long list.
He was always good in tight spaces though, i used to have this argument with people who were saying that he was a crap footballer. He’s good at playing his way out of tight spots when he needs to
The way he progresses the ball up the pitch is Pogba-esque at times. Just a shame his passing is still shit.
Same here. He's always had an ability to get out of trouble. Which is handy because we sure like to put him in trouble.
What has changed and I think its deliberate. He plays way more one and two touch stuff. It suits him because the more time he has on the ball the more his limitations show. He's now moving the ball on quicker. Must be an instruction.
One other major thing. Have we ever seen AWB rolling around, screaming in pain? The lad is old school.
I've made this point before but having proper players around him that always want the ball makes a massive difference.
A lot of time it would be played out to him and he'd have McTominay and Fed hiding in midfield and Dan James or Lingard hiding ahead of him.
Casemiro and Eriksen have always showed for the ball this season and even Anthony in fairness to him always make an option for him as well.
Agreed. That’s the most weird thing some people keep saying that here.
his 1v1 and dribble is so shite man, bloody hell
Yes. He was excellent, another achievement of Erik’s. The more I see, the more impressed I am by our coach.
Dribbles like ronaldinho at RB at times
Looking back, he was fast asleep for the early Juanmi chance. Trotted back too
I think it's his passing and crossing which is poor rather than his dribbling.
He's very quick and agile so can dribble his way out of trouble
He's pretty average defending in general play, excellent and frankly unbeatable at times one on one.
You know AWB is in his best form when he pulls off those dribbles and cheeky touches. The crossing and acute passing is still at a 35 percentile rate I'd reckon in terms of effectiveness, maybe sheer experience might get that up to 42ish but he'll never convince.
Last edited:
Man Utd 3:1 Fulham
Him basically playing at #9 at the end was hilarious.
Yes that was so odd
To be fair, on the counter attack, he has the attributes to stretch defences.
Even had a shot blocked on goal late in the game.
Such a bizarre footballer. Plays the game nonchalantly. Not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.
It’s like in Fifa when the ball goes near a player and they suddenly become ‘active’ and have an icon above their head. It’s like that with him.
It’s like in Fifa when the ball goes near a player and they suddenly become ‘active’ and have an icon above their head. It’s like that with him.
Last edited:
That FIFA comment is so accurate! He is sleep walking until the arrow points to him.
Thats a good way to put it. Its strange because he can do some really good stuff when the ball is at his feet.but then we see other stuff and it reminds us why we need a quality RB coming in (but then again, it shouldnt be ahead ofsome other positions)
Would agree, when we signed him, I genuinely thought he could be the starting right back for England, hasnt progressed how I hoped. However, I personally if was the manager would only put James and Walker ahead of him. Tripper is having a really good season but is being overly praised I feel and Ben WHite is a constently decent right back, a better cb for me...TAA always has been the most over hyped right back I have ever come across, though very good going forward.....he is 5x worse defending than Bissaka attacking.
I still pick Bissaka over Dalot all day and tbh if I was replaying that France game or we had someone elite to face on the left wing....Walker is still the only one I start over him, though his positioning at times is poor and his defending crosses....defensively he is still so under rated for me....seems to be as he goes to ground so often.....its not a weakness, how many times have we see it go wrong? Barely ever
He gets sick a lot. Or is that just a cover for something else? Could really have used him against Saint Maximin today.
Man Utd 2:0 Everton
He was excellent, should’ve scored too
Motm for me
That reverse pass and keeping the ball in play from Bruno’s over hit pass was fantastic
Great overall performance.
He’s good enough to play RB next season. Happy for him.
Had he not missed that sitter, he'd be my PotM. Very good today, looked like he enjoyed that one.
Pushed Bruno for MOTM. Fantastic in possession and great at winning the ball back. He's won that position outright for me.
He was fantastic. I’d love for him to have bit more confidence in his shooting. Could have had a couple.
Much better than Dalot at this moment. Great game.
Wonderful to see his resilience.
Wonderful to see his resilience.
- Status