Eye on England: Manchester City can't cope with Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Every Monday, theScore's Daniel Rouse breaks down the week that was in English football. Welcome to the "Eye on England."
Within a 90-second chunk of the first half in Sunday's Manchester derby, Aaron Wan-Bissaka nullified Manchester City's makeshift left-back.
He began by shutting down Oleksandr Zinchenko's attacking inroads, blocking his cross and thwarting a return pass to the Ukrainian from Raheem Sterling. He then stripped Zinchenko of his defensive courage with a subtle swing of the hips before getting flattened by Nicolas Otamendi. But Wan-Bissaka was undeterred, and shook City's utility man again a few seconds later when he swiftly switched the ball from one foot to the other.
Zinchenko was exposed in United's 2-0 victory, looking the part as an attacking midfielder who moonlights as a poor left-back impressionist in his spare time. Wan-Bissaka building his reputation as an elite right-back against City, meanwhile, is becoming a trend.
It started in December, when the explosiveness of United's counterattack at the Etihad Stadium dominated the post-game prognoses for City's 2-1 derby defeat. However, the Red Devils' rearguard was just as impressive. Wan-Bissaka slammed the door on Sterling with the match's second highest number of both clearances and interceptions, and the most tackles.
The maturity of that outing raised the bar for Wan-Bissaka. Improvements were obviously required in the attacking side of his game, but the 22-year-old was overwhelmingly superior to City right-back Kyle Walker - one of his many rivals for a spot in the England squad - and the left-back opposite him that day, Angelino.
Manchester United's League Cup elimination to City will largely be forgotten by the club's fans, but Wan-Bissaka was his team's best defender in the first leg of the semifinal, despite being granted the fewest touches in Solskjaer's XI. Though he offered little going forward in the reverse fixture, he frustrated Sterling once more, showing off his quick instincts and anticipation.
On Sunday, it all came together.
The Englishman dominated City's left side in the opening period. He completed each of the six tackles he attempted and was successful in all three of his take-ons. United had to be more conservative in the second half, therefore restricting the opportunities Wan-Bissaka had to tease Zinchenko, but he stepped up defensively with two more tackles to accompany his three interceptions and two clearances over the course of the 90 minutes.
As a child, Wan-Bissaka tried to emulate the silky skills of Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho, and was unsurprisingly earmarked as a winger in Crystal Palace's youth setup. Yet, by the time he made a name for himself in Roy Hodgson's first team, he was an uncompromising full-back who habitually shunned big names looking to progress down his flank. Attacking, it turned out, was Wan-Bissaka's weakness.
But in just a few months at Manchester United, he's turning into a genuine two-way player. He can still be imperious at the back, but there is now more whip and accuracy in his crosses, and a greater tendency to overlap his right-wing colleague. His defending was exemplary over the weekend, but it was ultimately the hallmarks of his game honed on an uneven pitch in south London that humiliated Zinchenko.
Further thoughts
Terriers can chase promotion next season
Last season's appointment of Jan Siewert was an effort to preserve the Huddersfield Town DNA from David Wagner's reign, but club employees soon realized he was different. He lacked Wagner's personal touch and seemed out of his depth. The Terriers were unsurprisingly relegated, and began the 2019-20 campaign with one Championship point from a possible nine and elimination by Lincoln City in the League Cup.
Danny Cowley, and his assistant and brother Nicky, were chosen to pick up the pieces following Siewert's sacking and Mark Hudson's caretaker spell. The duo prided themselves on instilling unity at their previous clubs, and keenly began a reclamation project in West Yorkshire.
The transformation has been gradual but great. Huddersfield's points per game has surged from 0.14 to 1.37 since the Cowley brothers were hired, a rate which is good for a midtable standing. A team that was unnerved by injuries and uncommitted players is steadily blossoming into a youthful yet consistent lineup.
Saturday's 2-0 defeat to rivals Leeds United wasn't the start of another slump. After warding off the threat of relegation this season, there's sufficient evidence that Huddersfield can challenge for the playoffs next year.
Series of mistakes
When sporting bodies and broadcasters meet with senior government officials on Monday, they must address the coronavirus with the utmost seriousness. The Premier League is a particularly big risk to rising infection in the United Kingdom while it draws an average of around 40,000 fans to matches.
Serie A, on the other hand, has practically absolved itself from responsibility during Italy's rapidly developing crisis. Sixteen million people are quarantined and schools are shut, but the top flight ploughed on with matches in the worst-hit regions over the weekend, such as in Lombardy with AC Milan and in Emilia-Romagna with Parma.
The games were behind closed doors but, by playing the matches, Italian soccer was willingly putting its footballers, officials, and non-playing staff at risk. Sunday's decision to play on indicated television revenue far outweighed how seriously Serie A was prepared to take the coronavirus threat.
Given football's hold over the UK, it's up to the Football Association, organizations like the Premier League and Scottish Premiership, and broadcasters to lead the way with preventative measures against the virus' spread. Britain's coronavirus crisis is far from the critical level of Italy's, but news of games going ahead with no fans or even postponed fixtures would reverberate around the country and perhaps help slow the infection's spread.