AARON WAN-BISSAKA has been slammed by Graeme Souness – with the Sky Sports pundit saying Manchester United deserve more than tackling from him for £50million. The outspoken former Liverpool star tore into the England defender, 22, for his lack of ability going forward. While Souness admitted Wan-Bissaka is a good defender, he fears his anticipation […]
AARON WAN-BISSAKA has been slammed by Graeme Souness – with the Sky Sports pundit saying Manchester United deserve more than tackling from him for £50million.
The outspoken former Liverpool star tore into the England defender, 22, for his lack of ability going forward.
While Souness admitted Wan-Bissaka is a good defender, he fears his anticipation will never be good enough, forcing him to make rash, last-ditch lunges.
Writing for The Times, Souness claimed: “The stats say that Aaron Wan-Bissaka is one of the Premier League’s top tacklers.
“But should he not be a bit more than that for £50million?
“Should he not be the complete package as a right back at that price?
“He’s good defensively and one-on-one, but it’s the other end of the game, which is so important for a full back now, that he’s not so good at.
“Especially getting into the last third and delivering the right ball.”
Wan-Bissaka only joined Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side last summer in a mega-money move from Crystal Palace.
While fans, pundits and team-mates all rush to pile praise on Wan-Bissaka for his tackling, Souness has suggested it shows a lack of anticipation, so evident in superstar defenders in history, like Paolo Maldini.
Souness continued: “I’d also like to see him stay on his feet more, rather than lunging into last-minute challenges.
“I’d rather have a defender who anticipates danger and deals with it without having to go on their backside all the time, which tells me you’re not reading the game, than the top tackler.
“The minute you go to ground today, fouls will be given against you.
“Tackling is basically not allowed any more, it’s discouraged in modern football and that trend is only going to continue.”
Souness went on to say only Harry Maguire is worthy of playing in Man Utd‘s defence, with Luke Shaw and David De Gea also well off the pace, like Wan-Bissaka, for a Champions League hopeful.
He said: “The mistakes we have seen from De Gea in the past couple of years suggest he’s not playing to the same high standards that earned him the United Player of the Year award in four out of five seasons between 2014 and 2018.
“His form will concern Solskjaer because unless you have a top goalkeeper you’ll not be winning any big trophies, so I’m sure that’s something he’s keeping an eye on.
“Shaw has qualities at left back, but could still get himself leaner and meaner, while we’ll have to wait and see if Victor Lindelof will be Maguire’s long-term partner at centre back.
“Maguire was always going to make a big difference. He’s not Virgil van Dijk, but he’s a good player.
“Is that going to be United’s back five for the next five years? I’m not sure.
“I reckon Solskjaer is still going to be looking at it and questioning some people, asking himself: ‘Are they going to win me the Premier League or the Champions League?’
“I’m not sure if that’s the five that he’ll want for the next five years. The only cert among them on that score is Maguire.”
