Manchester United’s victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup semi-final saw Aaron Wan-Bissaka emerge as one of the standout performers.
Towards the end of last season, it appeared that the former Crystal Palace player had no future at the club. However, Erik ten Hag played a vital role in turning Wan-Bissaka’s fortunes around, and he deserves immense credit for that.
Although Wan-Bissaka’s one-on-one defensive skills have never been in doubt, his ability to contribute in attack was questioned.
However, during the match against Brighton, Wan-Bissaka not only kept the dangerous Kaoru Mitoma very quiet, but he also made significant contributions in the final third.
In the first half, he even managed to impersonate the legendary Cafu in his prime by showcasing impressive close control to leave Moises Caicedo behind.
Furthermore, Wan-Bissaka created a clear-cut scoring opportunity for United, although his teammates failed to capitalize on it.
Check out the moment Wan-Bissaka showed off his newfound attacking flair to the world…
Video: Wan-Bissaka’s impression of prime Cafu vs Brighton
Damn Aaron Wan Bissaka I wasn’t familiar with your game
pic.twitter.com/qze2ALqUz9— AB⚕ (@AbsoluteBruno) April 23, 2023
Pure filth from Aaron Wan Bissaka 💫
📲 Watch #FACup live on @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer#BBCFootball #BBCFACup pic.twitter.com/RppRgekGUq
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) April 23, 2023
If he can continue to deliver offensively, in addition to his exceptional defensive skills, Wan-Bissaka has the potential to become one of the best in the business.
Who knows, he may even compete with the likes of Kyle Walker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Reece James for a place in future England squads.
Following United’s FA Cup semi-final triumph over Brighton, an incredible statistic about Wan-Bissaka began circulating on social media.
Since the 2017/18 season, no defender in Europe’s top five leagues has a better true tackle success rate than Wan-Bissaka.
Out of 571 tackles attempted during this period, Wan-Bissaka has impressively completed 449 of them.
That’s a success rate of 78.6% – madness!
2,168 players have attempted 100+ tackles in Europe’s top five divisions since the start of the 2017/18 season. ( @Squawka )
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has the best true tackle success rate:
◎ 571 attempted
◉ 449 tackles made
◎ 66 fouls
◎ 56 x dribbled past#MUFC #FACup #MUFC pic.twitter.com/ROGwB4oHAO— QueenZ Football (@Queenz_Football) April 23, 2023