He is still one of the best one-on-one defenders in the world and he's as good as Mitchell going forward. A couple of seasons ago in the CL he almost singlehandedly shut out Neymar and Mbappe who just couldn't get past him. For me, his one big weakness was always his positional sense and I don't think that's ever been addressed. When he has someone alongside him telling him where to go or when he has clear instructions from the boss he shines. The other big issue is confidence. United are in a big stinking pile of sh!t and the big names are throwing their toys out the pram on a daily basis and I can't imagine that is a great environment for someone who seems like a quiet, polite young man.

We are not in a place where we would spend £20m+ on a fullback and I can't see United taking any bigger loss. A loan would just be a short-term option with no long-term gain unless it was with a reasonable fee at the end. I think Ward is having his best season in years, but AWB is a definite upgrade (as he was before). The bigger question may be just how good is Ferguson?

AWB + Vieira's coaching + his young age + the fact that he's an outstanding defender + the fact there's no real reason to believe he can't learn and improve his attacking game (as Joel Ward has under the present coaching staff, and AWB has the potential to be a better player than Ward) + his Champions League experience + his experience of sharing a dressing room, and learning from the likes of Ronaldo and Cavani which must have taught him something...I mean what the f*** is not to like?

Assuming we could negotiate a reasonable/acceptable fee, would anyone seriously not bring AWB back in a heartbeat? With AWB on one side and Mitchell on the other, we'd basically have our full backs sorted for the next ten years leaving money to spend elsewhere in the team. And we'd have Ferguson (who DOES play CB as well), Guehi, and Andersson in the middle of the back four, all of whom are also young.

At a fair price, AWB would be a seriously, seriously good bit of business. (And remember, United paid £47 million for Fred so they may well take Luka in part exchange, who they'd probably value at least £20 million at today's rates :-)

Edited by sydtheeagle (20 Jan 2022 7.00pm)

AWB + Vieira's coaching + his young age + the fact that he's an outstanding defender + the fact there's no real reason to believe he can't learn and improve his attacking game (as Joel Ward has under the present coaching staff, and AWB has the potential to be a better player than Ward) + his Champions League experience + his experience of sharing a dressing room, and learning from the likes of Ronaldo and Cavani which must have taught him something...I mean what the f*** is not to like?

Assuming we could negotiate a reasonable/acceptable fee, would anyone seriously not bring AWB back in a heartbeat? With AWB on one side and Mitchell on the other, we'd basically have our full backs sorted for the next ten years leaving money to spend elsewhere in the team. And we'd have Ferguson (who DOES play CB as well), Guehi, and Andersson in the middle of the back four, all of whom are also young.

At a fair price, AWB would be a seriously, seriously good bit of business. (And remember, United paid £47 million for Fred so they may well take Luka in part exchange, who they'd probably value at least £20 million at today's rates :-)

Edited by sydtheeagle (20 Jan 2022 7.00pm)

Would love him back, still one of the best defensively in the league, just terrible going forward you need both to play for a top club, would be a great signing for us.

This with bells on.

I'm always amazed by how (read back on this forum over the years) supporters will criticise a manager for not picking up enough points, not using the right tactics, not making the best use of substitutions, or buying the wrong players. But almost no one will comment on a managers ability to develop players despite coaching ability being one of, if not the core requirement of the job.

This has been Vieira's genius. While Roy was great at setting up a side (not to lose) few, if any, players actually improved under him. They just knew their roles and their roles were basically defined by damage limitation. Ward can't do this, so rather than teach him how, just put him in a position where he doesn't have to. That was Roy. Of the main holdovers from Hodgson:

Ward - his best season in years, dramatically improved under Vieira
Mitchel - dramatic improvement since last season
Benteke - he is what he is, but he's been better this year than the two previous years
Kouyate - at least as good as he was under Roy

Put simply, good managers (Sir Alex being the obvious example) take players and make them better simply because they know how to coach and develop them.

You are absolutely right that AWB's demise is a failure of coaching and nothing else. The raw material is there. Bring him back. A great defender and if Vieira can do what he's done for Ward for AWB then possibly yet a great attacking full-back too.

Edited by sydtheeagle (19 Jan 2022 8.20pm)