This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
In his Team of the Week column for BBC Sport, Garth Crooks has hailed Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s impressive performance against Manchester City.
What did he say?
The Red Devils pulled off a superb victory at the home of their rivals on Saturday afternoon, with Wan-Bissaka in particular shining from a defensive point of view. As per Sofascore, the summer signing made an incredible seven clearances, five tackles, and blocked three shots, as he helped the United back-line keep out City’s much-vaunted attack.
And Crooks has now insisted the 22-year-old is right up there with the best in the division when it comes to defending, and labelled his display against Pep Guardiola’s side as “outstanding”.
He said: “I’ve been banging on about Aaron Wan-Bissaka for nearly two years now. I saw him play for Crystal Palace against Fulham at Craven Cottage, and Roy Hodgson didn’t want to talk about the player after the game for fear of attracting too much attention to the lad.
“I also said he was a Manchester United player if ever I saw one. His defending in the Manchester derby was nothing short of outstanding. Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold might be better on the ball but there isn’t a better defender in the country on his day than Wan-Bissaka.”
Intimidation
With the reputation that Wan-Bissaka continues to build for himself as one of the elite defenders in the Premier League, wingers must be terrified of having to come up against him. Raheem Sterling – a man who had already scored 15 goals in 22 games across all competitions this season – barely got a sniff coming up against the former Crystal Palace ace on Saturday, registering no shots on target whatsoever.
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Opposition teams will begin to think twice of how they choose to attack down United’s right, and that level of intimidation and fear factor is only great news for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side. As Crooks suggests, Wan-Bissaka’s defending is at a level where others are striving to catch up – and that is a remarkable compliment for someone who is still only 22.
Meanwhile, Manchester United fans are raving about this man’s commanding performance against Manchester City.
