From Jamie Carragher to James Maddison and Alejandro Garnacho, West Ham’s former Manchester United right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka has frequently been labelled the finest ‘one-v-one’ defender in the game.
The home fans at Old Trafford have witnessed many a sprawling, last-gasp Aaron Wan-Bissaka sliding tackle over the years.
The inch-perfect interventions he made to stop both Matheus Cunha and Patrick Dorgu haring towards the six-yard box, then, were reminiscent of the days when the admirers were lining up to proclaim Wan-Bissaka as the game’s very best in such situations.
The frustration for the Old Trafford faithful, though, was that West Ham United’s reigning Player of the Year appeared to pick the most irritating time to slap a plaster upon his very own Achilles heel.
For all his excellence in one-v-one situations, Wan-Bissaka has always had an unhappy habit of switching off when defending the back post. The Man United supporters chanted ‘I told you so’ in unison when the 2024 FA Cup winner was blamed for three of Chelsea’s five goals in that humiliating August defeat at the London Stadium.
Former Hammer Don Hutchison blasted Wan-Bissaka’s ‘terrible’ positional sense on a night when his weaknesses horribly overshadowed his strengths.
But as West Ham fought back against Manchester United on Thursday evening, that so-called ‘curse of the ex’ claimed Ruben Amorim as its latest heart-broken victim. There was certainly nothing ‘terrible’ abut his performance back in the North West.
West Ham’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka fixes his biggest issue for Manchester United return
Not only did he make one outstanding goalline clearance to deny the West Ham-linked Joshua Zirkzee – legendary right-back Gary Neville hailed Wan-Bissaka’s ‘brilliant’ defending – he never threatened to lose his concentration for even a moment on a formidable return to his old stomping ground.
“Wan Bissaka, where was this back post defending at United?” one bemused Red Devils supporter wrote on X. “Head is on Mars watching him clear it at the back from deep crosses.”
“He’s being coached properly now. No player has got better or maintained a consistent level since being at United,” another says. “You could make a case for Bruno [Fernandes], but I maintain that the played his best football at United was when he wasn’t captain under [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer.”
Aaron Wan-Bissaka was OUTSTANDING back at Old Trafford!
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“I actually think Wan-Bissaka is the best one-v-one defender as a full-back in the world. I don’t think anyone would get the better of him.”
– Jamie Carragher, 2020
“Wan-Bissaka always forgets to mark the back post till he plays against United! Could not believe my eyes.”
“Wan-Bissaka can defend the back post now but couldn’t do it when he was with us.”
“Of course Wan Bissaka knows how to defend the back post when he’s not wearing a red shirt.”
“The amount of time Wan-Bissaka didn’t track the runner on the back post for us but of course, against us, he’s flawless.”
“We sold Wan-Bissaka for £15 million and kept [Diogo] Dalot.”
“I’ll never understand why we sold Wan Bissaka. What a player.”
Gary Neville thinks Wan-Bissaka looks a lot more ‘confident’ now
Neville, who saw Wan-Bissaka sped five years holding down the flank he once made his own at Old Trafford, could not help but feel his predecessor has made massive strides in the other, less-heralded part of his game.
The Crystal Palace academy graduate produced a career-best five Premier League assists in 2024/25.
And while he is awaiting his first goal contribution of the current campaign, Wan-Bissaka skipped past Dalot at will on a night in which the old United rivals traded blows.
“He’s the very best at that strapping his leg around and getting the ball somehow,” Neville told Sky Sports after watching his fellow right-back put those telescopic limbs to good use.
“It is a brilliant defensive header [to deny Zirkzee too]. And he has definitely improved on the ball from a few years ago. He’s more confident now.”
“Wan-Bissaka turning into Cafu over the halfway line,” another frustrated Man United fan agrees. “He was [rubbish] attacking at United and also often fell asleep at back post. No such luck tonight.
“Wan-Bissaka is having the game of the Century against us. I can’t believe this.”
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