Best of luck to AWB and many thanks for his 5 years of service to the club. He is a player who might divide opinion but he has largely played well here and his performances against Saint Maximan and Doku in both cup final wins were as vital to our success as much as the likes of Garnacho or Casemiro.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka | Signs a 7-year contract with West Ham
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran are here to talk about a frustrating 2 points dropped at Crystal Palace. They then discuss the regeneration of Old Trafford. Finally, Nik is joined by special guest Michael Statham from the Football Oranje podcast - who gives us a more in depth look at our EL opposition FC Twente, and then runs through the (many) Dutch connections currently at United.
Old school rb but a damn fine one. He will be an asset for west ham.
Way overdue, certainly a waste of 45m.
Thank you and best wishes to AWB. Hope he has a cracking 36 league games.
Definitely not a waste, didn't turn out to be the player we might have hoped, but he had very strong attributes, was available (I don't remember too many injury issues?) and seemed to be a consumate professional. The original fee was high for sure, too high probably, but he was a good player for his time here.
Waste is sancho, antony, sanzhez pogba. Azza was alright. But cracking but not a waste.
Pogba was one of the best players at this club for a couple seasons. He doesn't belong in that list, at all.
Don't even really think the price was an issue given his age and how highly rated he was at the time. If he had suited the type of team we wanted to be, that would have been a fine purchase. The problem was more that he was a profile mismatch for the team.
At a time when top teams were tending to prioritise attacking output and ball progression from their fullbacks, we instead opted for someone whose strengths were as a defensive 1v1 specialist. Cut to a few years later and both the player signed to replace him and the player already keeping him out of the first eleven more closely resemble the type of fullback we opted not to go for back in 2019.
That might be a coincidence, but I think it's more likely that it simply reflects the qualities aspiring top sides are inclined to look for in their fullbacks. And the club's mistake was not anticipating those needs before they dropped that money on a very different type of fullback.
Yeah I think that's fair - I think there might have been a belief that we could develop his attacking output, but it just never really happened. He's progressed a bit, but he's fundamentally not suited at being an attacking fullback.
Don't worry, they'll find someone else...
Scenes on the Caf when he steals the ball from Rashford and slaloms past Maz to setup a goal
The honeymoon phase of him joining and completely monstering every winger he came up against for the first few games was great.
AWB is a great defender but just didn’t suit the style of club. Have no doubts he will impress at West Ham where it’s more likely to be backs against the wall for longer.
Have to say, thing it’s a poor bit of business if Palace are rejecting £25m +£5m in bonuses for Anderson and we’re scraping £15m for a 26 year old.
Have to say, thing it’s a poor bit of business if Palace are rejecting £25m +£5m in bonuses for Anderson and we’re scraping £15m for a 26 year old.
No he needs to be in a list of just one.
He could've been and should've been, but lacked the dedication and desire to step up. SAF was right the first time.
Another purchase from that horrible summer of 2019 is finally gone. He was never good enough in the first place and the fact that we paid £50m for a rightback who is as limited as him was always a madness. Hopefully Maguire follows him.
He is going to be a free agent in 6 months time. Its brilliant actually. We recouped about 1/3rd of the crazy money we paid for him.
Now need more players to leave
Best of luck to him. Don’t have any ill feelings towards the guy like some…
This is a shocking bit of business. Surely better to trigger extension than sell him for 15m. He’s worth a lot more than that and has done a job for us on many an occasion.
Don’t understand the people saying a 7 year deal is not smart for him, and he should be aspiring higher than West Ham.
A 7 year deal gives him incredibly financial security for the rest of his career, irrespective of fitness and form. It’s also for a mid-table PL club in his home city. A city he was clearly desperate to return to.
He’s spent five years at United during one of our most underperforming, disappointing eras, and has failed to nail down a first team place. At 26 heading off to West Ham to make a fresh start, I think it’s extremely unlikely he’ll ever show enough to earn a move to a bigger club again. There are maybe 8-10 clubs in the country bigger than West Ham, and it’s unlikely any of them will be looking at bringing in Wan-Bissaka at 28 or 29 (which is the sort of time it would take him to build a reputation worthy of another shot at a big club).
I like the lad, he seemed to have a good attitude, and I loved his long leggy tackles. But half the time he had to make them because he was caught out of position. He’s what I would call a good “physical defender”. Strong, quick, good in direct one on one duels. But I consider him a fairly poor “intelligent defender”.
He rarely had the anticipation or awareness to cut out danger before it manifested into something more serious, and was fairly switched off to runs in behind him off the ball (indirect one on one defending). This was perfectly exemplified by his demonstrably weak back post defending.
Then there is the other side of the game, the going forwards part. He’s as bad on the offensive side of the game as I can remember any full back at United in my lifetime. He offered quite literally (and I don’t mean literally in the colloquial sense, but in the correct dictionary definition) nothing going forwards. His movement in the attacking third was poor, and his delivery was worse than abysmal. I always found that both strange and vexing because as a youngster he was originally a winger. Obviously not a very good one.
And it’s for this latter reason I believe it would be nothing short of miraculous if a bigger club were to come in for him again. Bigger clubs want to dominate possession and/or pose an attacking threat from all areas of the pitch. Full backs play a huge role in that. If a full back isn’t adept at inverting to central defence or defensive midfield, then they need to be a productive attacking outlet creating width. Wan-Bissaka does none of that. In any attacking sense he is nothing more than a warm body taking up space.
He is perfect for a team like West Ham, who are getting an adept one on one defender, who will work hard and provide good level defensive cover, he will suit a compact side and do well at forcing players to the outside where they will struggle to dribble past him. The more defensive nature of their set up will provide plenty of cover for his weaknesses and he should be part of a fairly solid defensive unit, especially in a mid or low defensive line.
I feel like a lot of people are being a bit revisionist upon his departure. Maybe they feel bad and now is the time to be magnanimous? This lad received absolute fecking pelters when he was here. Routinely crucified for being “utter shit” and “not fit to wear the shirt”. Now he’s leaving, I’ve read more nice comments and positive assessments of him than I’ve seen in the last five years put together.
I’m the other way around though. I was never harsh on him when he was here, despite recognising he wasn’t exactly first name on the team-sheet. But now he’s leaving I feel I can comfortably say that he has never been even close to being United quality, and it’s truly baffling how a scouting system could look at him - knowing the type of full back the club would need - and conclude that not only was he the right profile and good enough for United, but that he was worth 50 fecking million. Mental.
I’m glad we got a fee for him, and I’m glad he gets to go “home”. I wish him all the best. For the right team, in the right set up, he has plenty to offer. Not least his professionalism and engine. That said, I am also delighted that he’s no longer a United player. Nothing personal, but him leaving allows a more suitable player to come in and helps move us forwards. Had it not been for his massive initial fee, I am sure he would’ve been moved on much sooner.
There are still a few more players here who never were, and never will be United players, either in quality or profile. But INEOS seem to be doing a good job at showing the ruthlessness needed to prioritise actual quality over some amorphous concept of “preserving the value” of ill judged purchases. It doesn’t matter if a player cost 5m or 50m, if he simply isn’t good enough or doesn’t fit your system at all, then you have to move him on through the best terms you can, as soon as you can. That concept was lost under the complete cockwombles that have been running this club since Fergie left.
A 7 year deal gives him incredibly financial security for the rest of his career, irrespective of fitness and form. It’s also for a mid-table PL club in his home city. A city he was clearly desperate to return to.
He’s spent five years at United during one of our most underperforming, disappointing eras, and has failed to nail down a first team place. At 26 heading off to West Ham to make a fresh start, I think it’s extremely unlikely he’ll ever show enough to earn a move to a bigger club again. There are maybe 8-10 clubs in the country bigger than West Ham, and it’s unlikely any of them will be looking at bringing in Wan-Bissaka at 28 or 29 (which is the sort of time it would take him to build a reputation worthy of another shot at a big club).
I like the lad, he seemed to have a good attitude, and I loved his long leggy tackles. But half the time he had to make them because he was caught out of position. He’s what I would call a good “physical defender”. Strong, quick, good in direct one on one duels. But I consider him a fairly poor “intelligent defender”.
He rarely had the anticipation or awareness to cut out danger before it manifested into something more serious, and was fairly switched off to runs in behind him off the ball (indirect one on one defending). This was perfectly exemplified by his demonstrably weak back post defending.
Then there is the other side of the game, the going forwards part. He’s as bad on the offensive side of the game as I can remember any full back at United in my lifetime. He offered quite literally (and I don’t mean literally in the colloquial sense, but in the correct dictionary definition) nothing going forwards. His movement in the attacking third was poor, and his delivery was worse than abysmal. I always found that both strange and vexing because as a youngster he was originally a winger. Obviously not a very good one.
And it’s for this latter reason I believe it would be nothing short of miraculous if a bigger club were to come in for him again. Bigger clubs want to dominate possession and/or pose an attacking threat from all areas of the pitch. Full backs play a huge role in that. If a full back isn’t adept at inverting to central defence or defensive midfield, then they need to be a productive attacking outlet creating width. Wan-Bissaka does none of that. In any attacking sense he is nothing more than a warm body taking up space.
He is perfect for a team like West Ham, who are getting an adept one on one defender, who will work hard and provide good level defensive cover, he will suit a compact side and do well at forcing players to the outside where they will struggle to dribble past him. The more defensive nature of their set up will provide plenty of cover for his weaknesses and he should be part of a fairly solid defensive unit, especially in a mid or low defensive line.
I feel like a lot of people are being a bit revisionist upon his departure. Maybe they feel bad and now is the time to be magnanimous? This lad received absolute fecking pelters when he was here. Routinely crucified for being “utter shit” and “not fit to wear the shirt”. Now he’s leaving, I’ve read more nice comments and positive assessments of him than I’ve seen in the last five years put together.
I’m the other way around though. I was never harsh on him when he was here, despite recognising he wasn’t exactly first name on the team-sheet. But now he’s leaving I feel I can comfortably say that he has never been even close to being United quality, and it’s truly baffling how a scouting system could look at him - knowing the type of full back the club would need - and conclude that not only was he the right profile and good enough for United, but that he was worth 50 fecking million. Mental.
I’m glad we got a fee for him, and I’m glad he gets to go “home”. I wish him all the best. For the right team, in the right set up, he has plenty to offer. Not least his professionalism and engine. That said, I am also delighted that he’s no longer a United player. Nothing personal, but him leaving allows a more suitable player to come in and helps move us forwards. Had it not been for his massive initial fee, I am sure he would’ve been moved on much sooner.
There are still a few more players here who never were, and never will be United players, either in quality or profile. But INEOS seem to be doing a good job at showing the ruthlessness needed to prioritise actual quality over some amorphous concept of “preserving the value” of ill judged purchases. It doesn’t matter if a player cost 5m or 50m, if he simply isn’t good enough or doesn’t fit your system at all, then you have to move him on through the best terms you can, as soon as you can. That concept was lost under the complete cockwombles that have been running this club since Fergie left.
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7 year contract to spread the cost out for PSR purposes?
Absolute legend of tackling. Never complained, always did his best, gave us quite a few unforgettable performances. Best of luck to AWB, grateful for his time here, and excited to see Mazzraoui help us implement new system
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Didn’t think he was good enough to be a starter but also didn’t think he was as bad as people made it out to be. I think he was a good option for certain occasions.
Good luck to him. I always have love for players that are United fans
Good luck to him. I always have love for players that are United fans
Think he will be a good signing for them, solid defensively and a good pro.
Wish him well personally hope he has a great season while West Ham struggle.
On the bench vs Villa.
With Todibo, Fullkrug and Summerville… who will all become first teamers soon I think
I thought he was an arsenal fan?
I see they're not really a family for smiling
Who will Summerville replace? Kudus/Bowen/Paqueta? Maybe push Paqueta behind, but even then Soucek/JWP would be sacrificed.
Made his West Ham debut today in the win against his former club.
Played a big part in their opening goal by an excellent carry from deep.
£30m for his time, appearances, ability and performances here is some of the best business we’ve done in the last decade.
Could have spent the money better, but he was good value all things considered.
Looked a different player today. Fans singing his name.
Made some great runs into the box and carried the ball well.
Everything out fans said he couldn't do
Made some great runs into the box and carried the ball well.
Everything out fans said he couldn't do
Yep, it was a bit mad to watch, reminded me of the Wan Bissaka I got excited about signing. It's like he has moved clubs and remembered how to get forward.
I feel like it’s a nigh on certainty he’s going to do well there. That doesn’t mean we were wrong to sell him, just that he’s found his level.
Pleased for him he wasn't as bad as some people made out here.
Shunted to the left at the end too which was something I'll never understand when Dalot is covering there at the moment.
Shunted to the left at the end too which was something I'll never understand when Dalot is covering there at the moment.
Always said that he was better on the ball than people were making out. But once done idiot starts a narrative they are quick to catch on. I think it broke the lads confidence. Good luck to him at WH
he came here as the best dribbler in the league from a certain stat, be it among defenders, or whatnot. He could definitely carry the ball in space well, but he never got the freedom and confidence to do it regularly here. Good place for him to get back some confidence and recognition.