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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Omar Garrick

New Manchester United manager has a massive £50m problem Ralf Rangnick cannot solve

When Ralph Rangnick was first announced as Manchester United's interim manager, many people expected him to come in and sort out all of the squad problems almost immediately.

When a new manager arrives, everybody gets given a clean slate, and from what we've seen up until this point, it looks as if certain players have benefited more than others from the German's arrival.

One player who's certainly improved in recent weeks under the guidance of Rangnick is right-back Diogo Dalot. He's developed his game massively and deservedly earned his spot in the starting line-up. Most defensive wide players have to be good going forward in the modern game, and it's evident that Dalot offers an attacking threat.

Due to Dalot's impressive form in recent weeks, it's meant that some of the United players have fallen victim to his philosophy, and one of those is Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Signed for £50 million by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the 2019 summer transfer window, Wan-Bissaka was tipped to go on and have a successful career at Old Trafford. At the time, he was arguably one of the most exciting full-backs in the country, and he was the obvious signing to make to improve the squad.

His first two seasons were relatively impressive. Defensively, he was regarded as one of the best full-backs in Europe, and many people were starting to recognise his name.

However, there's always been an attacking flaw to Wan-Bissaka's game, which is somewhat surprising considering he used to be a winger in his youth.

Whenever he's in possession, he looks afraid to take on any oppositional defenders, instead cutting inside and passing backwards. While he got two goals and six assists in the 2020/21 campaign, it wasn't as good output compared to some of the best-attacking full-backs in the world, like Trent Alexander-Arnold or Andy Robertson.

Wan-Bissaka has to improve in his offensive performances (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images) ((Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images))

This season, it feels like he has gone backwards, and due to his lack of an attacking threat, it means he's fallen down the pecking order to Rangnick. The stats show it too.

As per FBRef.com, Dalot has averaged 5.10 tackles and interceptions per 90 this season, higher than Wan-Bissaka (4.15).

For implementing Rangnick's philosophy, Dalot is better as well. He's averaged 3.81 successful pressures per 90, more than Wan-Bissaka (2.75) and has completed almost twice as many progressive passes per 90 than the former Crystal Palace player (4.95 compared to 2.59).

You can only worry for Wan-Bissaka. Clearly, he's not as good offensively and hasn't progressed this season. What's also apparent is that Rangnick cannot solve this issue because the right-back has always played like he's done in his senior career. It's a player problem, not a manager one, which could mean it leaves a burden on the next permanent coach.

With the likes of Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag being linked with the permanent position, you'd have to fear for Wan-Bissaka's long-term career at United even more.

Pochettino has shown he prefers more of an attacking full-back at his time at both Tottenham and PSG. At Spurs, he had the likes of Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier and Serge Aurier - all pretty decent at bombing forward. In Paris, he has Achraf Hakimi, Thilo Kehrer and Nuno Mendes. With this in mind, it's a worrying sign for Wan-Bissaka.

Ten Hag also likes attacking full-backs, shown in his use of Daley Blind, Noussair Mazraoui, Nicolas Tagliafico and Sergiño Dest. If he came to Old Trafford, I think he'd want another full-back option unless Wan-Bissaka drastically improves going forward.

Wan-Bissaka's career at Old Trafford could be over unless he improves his attacking displays. United need attacking full-backs, and at the moment, he doesn't offer as much of a threat in that department.

Let's see if things change between now and the end of the season.

Is Wan-Bissaka's United career hanging by a thread? Follow our United On My Mind writer Omar Garrick on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below.

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