In the summer of 2019 the atmosphere at Old Trafford was somewhat different from that of yesterday afternoon. Confidence filled the air, rather than despondency. Ole Gunnar Solskjær was at the wheel with a permanent contract in his filing cabinet and the Manchester United board had backed their man in the transfer market.
Harry Maguire, Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka had arrived for a total of £150 million and the board was looking forward to a successful season. Of the three signings, United seemed particularly proud of the capture of Wan-Bissaka. The club let it be known that they had scoured their scouting database to find the right man to replace Antonio Valencia, who had left the club after ten years. Of the 804 right backs in the database, Wan-Bissaka topped the list. He was identified as the one who was most capable of taking the United defence to the next level, and the board signed the England Under-21 international for £50 million from Crystal Palace.
One wonders where exactly João Cancelo was ranked among the multitude of names. The Portugal player, then 25, was available that summer. He had decided to leave Juventus after one season. City pounced, signing Cancelo in a £60 million deal that sent Danilo in the opposite direction.
It is not known if United ever properly discussed the idea of signing Cancelo, but if they needed any advice about the full back, all they had to do was ask Gary Neville. “I worked with him for four months when I was [in charge] at Valencia and he was a very talented player,” Neville said. “He had a bit of maturing to do but I had no doubt he was going to be an exceptional player. He’s so fast and is brilliant with both feet.”
Yesterday Cancelo was the best performer in a star-studded City team and Wan-Bissaka was the worst player in a woeful United side. If one statistic summed up the impact that the City full back had on this game it is this: Cancelo completed 20 passes in the final third of the pitch in the first half, one fewer than all the United players combined.
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Cancelo, playing at left back, as he has so often done over the past two seasons, was a constant menace on the flank, either overlapping down the wing or tucking inside, which allowed Phil Foden to drag Wan-Bissaka out to the touchline.
Under Pep Guardiola, Cancelo has blossomed into one of the biggest attacking threats in the Premier League. He has had more shots (26) than any other City player and has also made the most passes, blocks and tackles of the City squad.
Guardiola has been criticised for spending more than £200 million on full backs, but they are such an important part of his philosophy that he requires the best. Cancelo, like Kyle Walker, needs to bring a dangerous attacking element to the team.
Walker offers pace on the overlap down the right. On the other flank, Cancelo can perform two roles. He can race down the touchline, as he did for the cross for the first goal, or he can tuck inside and operate as a quasi No 10. It was from this position that Cancelo set up the second goal with a teasing cross that Bernardo Silva prodded in.
Conversely, the 23-year-old Wan-Bissaka offers little in attack. On countless occasions yesterday the full back could not beat the first man with his delivery. Given that United have Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best headers of all time, in the penalty area, that must be incredibly frustrating for Solskjaer. Diogo Dalot is a far better attacking option than Wan-Bissaka but Solskjaer appears unwilling to give the Portuguese a run.
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The argument has always been that Wan-Bissaka is more solid defensively than Dalot, but on recent evidence that is becoming an increasingly hard claim to make. Wan-Bissaka is one of the most effective tacklers but his concentration is not the best. The sluggish manner in which he tried to press Cancelo in the build-up to the second goal was pitiful.
Both Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw, right, were poor in possession. Neither could deal with the City press. “Me and Gabby got told to press the full backs,” Foden, who played on the left wing, said. “And we have Kev [De Bruyne] and Bernardo pressing well and it worked.”
Wan-Bissaka’s positioning has also been poor of late. Yesterday he was caught in no man’s land for the first goal, unsure whether to go to Cancelo or leave him to Bruno Fernandes. “They had pockets that we could exploit,” Foden added.
The full back himself is not totally culpable, of course. You would have thought by now that either Solskjaer or his coaches would have been able to help Wan-Bissaka to improve, but as it stands he is one of many weak links in the United team.
