Manchester United (Red Devils) | Special Thread

Manchester United (Red Devils) | Special Thread

DXC Technology, an American multinational information technology services and consulting company, is set to replace Kohler as #mufc's new sleeve sponsor
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DAEMUSHIN said:
Richard Arnold has started canvassing opinion from the #mufc ex-players who have been the most vocal during the club’s years of drift. He has already contacted Gary Neville and intends to do the same with some other ex-players working as television pundits.
[@David_Ornstein]
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this is crap, He should ignore those big mouths.
 

Re-assessing the Wan-Bissaka transfer​

What was he like at Palace and what can that tell us about the decision to buy him?​

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Mark Thompson​

JAN 23 2022​

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All stats from FBref


Prologue​

I’d like to open this piece about Aaron Wan-Bissaka by talking about a Manchester United player who isn’t, actually, Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
It’s Marcus Rashford. (If you want to focus solely on Wan-Bissaka, skip this section: there’ll be a line divider six paragraphs down).
Rashford, famously, got his start unexpectedly. He only started in his debut against FC Midtjylland because Anthony Martial got injured in the warm-up, but even that might not have happened had Wayne Rooney not suffered his own injury the previous week. But once the teenager was in the side, and had scored, that was it. He was a prodigy.
We’re very used to the trajectory of the prodigy. They are propelled into the spotlight at an ungraciously young age because their talent is a step above their peers. And then, just like all players improve over time, so does the prodigy - just from a higher starting point. But sometimes they don’t, of course, and they can fall spectacularly hard - these are the what-could-have-beens.
We don’t much know what to do with prodigies whose careers don’t follow either of these paths.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, like Rashford, emerged amid an injury crisis. When he made his debut against Tottenham in February 2018, not only was a 20-year-old, on-loan Timothy Fosu-Mensah alongside him in the back-line, but four of Palace’s seven substitute options were youth players.
It was the start of a run of six consecutive starts for Wan-Bissaka, in which he won Palace's player of the month for March. In 2018/19, he started 35 of 38 league games. Then that summer he signed for Manchester United, for £50m. That’s the trajectory of a prodigy.
But now, there are questions. Is Wan-Bissaka good enough to be a starting right-back for Manchester United men and their lofty aspirations? Is he too limited? Was he ever a player who would grow into being good enough?


The defending​

The perception of Aaron Wan-Bissaka as he moved from Croydon to Manchester was roughly this: a 21-year-old (homegrown!) right-back with maybe-world-class tackling ability against dribblers, who was perhaps a little average on the ball, but would surely grow or be coached out of that.
I think that there are two assumptions in this perception. The first one is obvious: that Wan-Bissaka would inevitably improve on the ball. The second: that there were no other meaningful questions to ask about his game beyond the description just given.
Let’s tackle that second, incorrect, assumption first.
Defending for a team like Manchester United, as a full-back, is much more about what you do in the open field than at Crystal Palace. You spend more of your time high up the pitch, and need to get back quickly and make the right decisions while doing so. Your winger probably isn’t going to help you out much. You’re more responsible for pressing.
Wan-Bissaka didn’t have to do much of this kind of defending at Palace. Roy Hodgson’s team played a disciplined, compact 4-4-2 where the wingers tracked back and dropped off instead of pressing high. The young right-back didn’t average four tackles per game through being left on an island by his teammates.
But playing in this kind of system makes it difficult to know how a player will translate. You just don’t quite have the information that you need.
There were some glimpses, in the games I watched for this piece, of Wan-Bissaka switching off, something which later became more noticeable at United. Below, Crystal Palace are playing Manchester City. Wan-Bissaka has just held up Leroy Sané, who laid the ball off to Bernardo Silva, who has the ball in the screenshot. [this sequence and its description will take place over four images]

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The right-back is, for the moment, staying alert. He’s light on his toes and he’s just taken a look over his shoulder at where Sané is. But then, as Bernardo Silva turns and rounds the corner, Wan-Bissaka’s just standing still (below, first) and let’s Sané wander right behind him (below, second)

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The tell-tale sign that this wasn’t some deliberate piece of conscious defending is that, as soon as he glances to his left and sees that Sané is gone, Wan-Bissaka darts in the opposite direction, to his right. (below)

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Luckily for Palace these weren’t frequent occurrences, but then Wan-Bissaka very rarely had any movement to worry about going on behind him. The team’s defensive system didn’t leave much room for it. And that should've raised questions about how he'd adjust to United.
One of the few media pundits to question Wan-Bissaka’s defensive ability at the time was Dean Saunders on Talksport (the tweet with the video clip got heavily ratioed, a sign that Twitter very strongly did not agree with him). I’m unsure about the details of his analysis, but his general point — that the defender dived in a lot when he didn't need to — was a fair one.
Below we have a moment showing the kind of thing Saunders was talking about. Wan-Bissaka is faced directly with Ashley Young (not the most fearsome of wingers at that time). [this sequence and its description will take place over four images]

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Wan-Bissaka gets into not a bad bodyshape (below)...

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He then appears to throw a bit of a dummy at Young with his right foot, pretending to go for the ball, and as he steps that right foot back away (below), Young takes off down the line.

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Now, Wan-Bissaka could have just followed him. He could have caught up, held Young up, slowed the move down. Instead, he decided to go for one of his trademark lengthy-leg slide tackles (below).

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He didn’t get the ball. Free-kick given away.
Even if he sometimes over-used them, Wan-Bissaka clearly had particular skills at tackling. He had a really good sense of when his opponent was going to make a move, possibly from having grown up as a winger himself, and he’d be ready to go with them. Sometimes he intentionally prompted their movement himself, throwing a dummy towards them to trigger a sprint, at which point he’d use his strong, loping recovery pace to get back and make the actual tackle.
However, something that strikes me now, looking back, is how very different Wan-Bissaka’s defending was from the clichés we usually hear. People (wrongly, by the way) say about Paolo Maldini that he rarely tackled, that he was so often in the right place that he never needed to ‘dirty his shorts’. Wan-Bissaka’s style was the opposite. Why didn’t we, why didn’t I, pick up on this disconnect?
Another question, this time from a statistical point of view: if Wan-Bissaka was making so many tackles, why was he having to make them? Only two players averaged more tackles per 90 minutes than him, both central midfielders.
Wan-Bissaka didn’t look unprotected by his teammates from the video, and according to FBref Andros Townsend (often the winger on that side) made more tackles, interceptions, and pressures in the defensive third than the average Premier League winger that season. When Townsend wasn’t playing, it was tireless central midfielder James McArthur in that role. So why the elevated tackle numbers?


The attacking​

Now for the second assumption, that Wan-Bissaka would inevitably improve on the ball.
It might surprise people now, with the distance we have from that season, that this part of the youngster’s game was actually praised. There were some questions about a final ball, but his dribbling was often mentioned as a positive quality.
And why wouldn’t it be: he attempted 2.9 per 90 minutes with a success rate of 73%. His teammate on the opposite side, left-back Patrick van Aanholt, only averaged 1.24 a game, and at a much lower success rate.
In fact, Wan-Bissaka was one of just 16 players in the league that season to attempt 100 or more dribbles; the nearest any of them came to a success rate as high as his was a 67.9% from Eden Hazard. Third-place was a further five percentage points away.
Now, it’d be foolish to say that Wan-Bissaka was a better dribbler than Hazard. What he was good at was an incredibly improvisational close-control.
Watching games back, the right-back is a rare example of someone who, I’d say, gets past opponents primarily through deceleration. He’d pause and wait for the defender to make some kind of movement and then he’d move on, in another direction, himself. I don’t remember seeing a player so proficient at take-ons who so rarely ‘beats a man’ in the conventional way.
There’s a great piece from June 2019, when Wan-Bissaka was signing for United, by friend of the newsletter Mohamed Mohamed that analyses his on-ball game in more detail, which I highly recommend reading.
But unless you’re skipping past a player inside the box, you’re going to need to pass to someone after you complete the dribble. And, to quote Mohamed’s piece: “n terms of his passing in isolation, it would be a stretch to call him a dynamic passer or perhaps even a good one.” 55% of Patrick van Aanholt’s passes in the final third were into the penalty area that season; for Wan-Bissaka, it was just 32%.
This section from Mohamed’s article summarises the problems perfectly:
“While I believe that there's a functional level to his passing, there are moments where Wan-Bissaka shows discomfort on-ball when trying to make decisions, especially when attempting to make dangerous passes as he doesn't quite have the touch to connect on them. There are also times when he opts for conservatism over something grander. He can look indecisive and give opponents an opportunity to seize on him telegraphing his passes and create turnovers in play.”
Click to expand...

Not pretty reading.
Despite this, I actually think that his passing during that season was less of an issue than it’s seemed to be at Manchester United. Part of this will be because teams like United have more of the ball (and more often in advanced but static situations), but Wan-Bissaka also seemed to have a genuine understanding with Andros Townsend on that flank. The right-back didn’t often have to look for a pass, or certainly not particularly hard for particularly long.


The transfer & the fee​

We now get to the actual difficult part of this piece: what should we have thought of Manchester United spending £50m on Wan-Bissaka, if we’d been a bit more level-headed?
For my part, I thought at the time that it was obviously pretty pricey, but that they badly needed a permanent starter at right-back. If he improved in possession, I thought, then even at that price it would probably be a good move.
As we talked about earlier though, however easy it is to say in hindsight, there should have been a lot more questioning of his high defensive numbers. There were some questions, but they (the ones that were made in good faith) were mostly assuming a fault in his positioning or technique. While I think that there was some technical refinement needed, I also think the story was more about inviting wingers onto him because slide tackling was something he knew how to do well.
And if you question the tackling, Wan-Bissaka’s superpower, the argument for him as a high-level defender becomes a lot less convincing.
His general positioning sense was broadly fine, at least in terms of there being no clear red flags in a pretty structured system. The occasional lapses in concentration were a bit of genuine concern, but might have been something he’d grow out of.
As for the on-ball stuff, I think that, at the time, there would have been a case for saying that his dribbling would actually be a boost at a team like United. It would have been possible to dream that Wan-Bissaka could be used as an advanced full-back, receiving the ball and twisting into space past a pressing defender to suddenly manufacture an opening.
That said, the increased amount of possession at a top-four-aspiration club would put more of a focus on his passing technique, passing decision-making, and his touch, the youngster's noticeable weak points.
Overall, I think that if United had spent half as much on Wan-Bissaka it would have still been a bit of a risk, but one with a decade's worth of potential upside. I’d be fairly sure that his general positioning would be fine, but would be unsure about his concentration and awareness. I’d be heartened by his tackling ability, but wary of whether he’d been partly responsible for creating these moments himself. I’d be quietly hopeful he’d be press-resistant and useful in escaping pressure in the final third, but wanting to draw up a development plan for his decision-making when needing to make a pass.
However, evaluating United’s decision to sign him, has to take into account the recent history of the position at the club.
They’d struggled to get a proper starting right-back for almost a decade. Rafael da Silva had been brought in as a teenager in 2008, during Gary Neville’s twilight years. He didn’t quite work out as a successor. Nor did Matteo Darmian. Antonio Valencia and then Ashley Young were converted to the position; both were far more serviceable than given credit for, but not satisfactory solutions.
Wan-Bissaka was young, he was English, he was (at the very least) competent, and he was gettable. So Manchester United got him.

The time since elapsed​

But how has he been since he was gotten?
I mentioned earlier that it seemed like Wan-Bissaka had a good understanding in possession with Townsend at Palace. I suspect that Townsend himself deserves credit for this, in making sure that the young rookie didn’t find himself isolated. Yes, it’s something that would help the team, but it would also be a senior(ish) player going out of his way to help guide a kid in their first full season.
In this respect, Wan-Bissaka probably hasn’t been helped at United by being paired on his flank with players like Mason Greenwood and Daniel James. There've been no old(er) heads around him to coach him on-pitch; considering how little time teams like United get on the training field, this probably makes a big difference to a player clearly in need of some help.
In many ways, Wan-Bissaka still seems to be the player he always was, and there’s a sequence against Aston Villa earlier this season which distills this. [this sequence and its description will take place over eight images, kind of splitting itself into three acts]
The right-back receives a pass near the halfway line with Villa pressing, left-back Matt Targett come to meet him. Wan-Bissaka does one of his nifty take-ons, throwing Targett off-balance and cutting inside (below).

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Mason Greenwood, further up the pitch, reacts by dropping quickly (below). There’s space between the lines and he has a decent amount of space from his marker too. Wan-Bissaka could drill a pass into him here.

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But he doesn’t. He dallies, and the option gets closed off (below).

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That’s Act One of this sequence played out. Onto Act Two.
Options in front of him now closed off, Wan-Bissaka goes back outside (below, first image) and once again sells and skips past Matt Targett (below, second image)

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Once again, Mason Greenwood provides an option for him (below), bursting forward on an underlap into the space inside the centre-back who’s had to come out to meet Wan-Bissaka. There’s a lovely amount of space to play a pass into that ribcage of the box for Greenwood to run onto.

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However, Wan-Bissaka’s pass is disappointingly executed, and Villa defender Tyrone Mings just manages to get a couple of studs on the ball (below), slowing it down. Act Two of the sequence is brought to a close.

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Greenwood is forced to circle backwards, opening Act Three, and lays a short pass back to Wan-Bissaka. Bruno Fernandes is now making a supporting run, providing an option (below). The pass, if Wan-Bissaka chooses to take it on, isn't easy. It's between two Villa defenders, and he needs to take it with the outside of his foot if he’s going to do it. He does.

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The pass is completed, Fernandes gets a bit lucky at beating the defender rushing across, and United get a chance off a cut-back.
Act Three brought to a close.
I do think that Wan-Bissaka has improved at facets of his game since the move, beyond the incremental changes you'd expect from more experience. He seems less prone to concentration lapses than in his first year at the club. I think he’s improved aerially. He seems to be progressing, slowly but surely(ish), in possession.
But I guess the question really is: had it been this 24-year-old version of Wan-Bissaka in the Crystal Palace team back in 2018/19, would United still have bought him?


Epilogue​

I’d like to close this piece about Aaron Wan-Bissaka by talking about a Crystal Palace player who wasn’t, actually, Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
It’s Wilfried Zaha.
Zaha, like Wan-Bissaka, was signed by Manchester United at the start of his twenties. He, like Wan-Bissaka, had enough playing experience under his belt not to be a complete unknown, but not enough for anyone to be sure how he’d adjust to his new club. Old enough to have become a starlet worth hyping, young enough for hype to still be dreamable and believable.
The move didn’t work out.
Even back at Crystal Palace, where Zaha returned the next season, he had to wait until his early-to-mid twenties to really hit his stride. Aged 23, in 2016/17, he had his first Premier League season with 15 goals plus assists. He managed it again in 2018/19. Probably would’ve done so too in 2017/18 and 2020/21 were it not for injuries.
We’re very used to the dreaming of what young players could become, when they’re in their teens and very early twenties. We’re also used to players emerging as solid ‘could do a good job for a big club’ kinda guys, around 24 or 25.
But we don’t much know how to deal with those intervening years.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka turned 24 two months ago.



Re-assessing the Wan-Bissaka transfer | remarkable
 
Baada ya martial kwenda kwa mkopo
Sasa list ya wengine kuondoka

Lingard Newcastle mkopo

Vdb piga mkopo

Wan bisaka mwisho wa msimu atafute timu

Paul pogba fundi tumwachie tu hakuna namna

Wakuwaleta old Trafford
Neves kutoka wolves January hii

Zakaria pre contract

Lampety wa Brighton january

Wadau nyie mnaonaje akina nani wa kuwaleta na wakuwaondoa?
 
shakwenya said:
Baada ya martial kwenda kwa mkopo
Sasa list ya wengine kuondoka

Lingard Newcastle mkopo

Vdb piga mkopo

Wan bisaka mwisho wa msimu atafute timu

Paul pogba fundi tumwachie tu hakuna namna

Wakuwaleta old Trafford
Neves kutoka wolves January hii

Zakaria pre contract

Lampety wa Brighton january

Wadau nyie mnaonaje akina nani wa kuwaleta na wakuwaondoa?
Click to expand...
Wan-Bissaka auzwe kwanini? A quality squad player, hatakiwi kuuzwa. Tariq Lamptey wa kazi gani sisi! wachezaji aina hiyo ndiyo wanatupotezea muda.

Neves ni mchezaji mzuri ila hawezi kucheza kama lone DM na kwa defense ya United itakuwa bado hatujatatua tatizo tunahitaji a solid CDM ili kucheza attacking football. Natamani sana Pogba abaki bado tunamhitaji sana uwanjani.

"Never send a boy to a man's job."
 
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