How Aaron Wan-Bissaka became the best one-on-one defender in the world | Michael Butler

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Manchester United right-back’s upturn in form is down to boosting his confidence and focusing on the silky stuff

After watching Aaron Wan-Bissaka pocket Kaoru Mitoma in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Brighton, Leicester’s James Maddison took to Twitter. “AWB is ridiculously good at 1 v 1 defending,” he wrote. “Probably the best in the world bar none. So many wingers run out of ideas when playing directly against him.”

Mitoma has been a breakout star this season, propelling Brighton towards European qualification. It is fair to say he is currently one of the most exciting wingers in world football, and even wrote a university thesis on dribbling, using cameras to analyse his teammates and how one might gain an advantage. But at Wembley the Japanese lost all six duels with Wan-Bissaka and lost possession 17 times before being substituted. When asked about the United right-back after the game, Mitoma said: “He is a strong opponent, that is what I thought while playing. I think it was a complete defeat.”

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/apr/27/how-manchester-united-aaron-wan-bissaka-became-the-best-one-on-one-defender-in-the-world

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