Stat shows Wan-Bissaka is a dribbler's nightmare
When watching Aaron Wan-Bissaka play, there are moments when he closes in on making a tackle and you just know he is going to wrap his long legs into a position to cleanly win the ball.
This Venus flytrap of a footballer has long been lauded for his ability in this area; only recently, Leicester City star James Maddison acclaimed our full-back as the best in the world at one-versus-one defending, bar none.
Aaron's ability to nullify even the most threatening of opponents was evident in the second part of 2022/23, as he largely managed to shut down the likes of Newcastle United's Allan Saint-Maximin, Brighton & Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma and, most recently, Jack Grealish, of Manchester City, in his three outings at Wembley.
The overall display in the Emirates FA Cup final was one of the best from a red shirt on the day and Wan-Bissaka impressed to such an extent in the run-in that he has been nominated for our final Player-of-the-Month award of the season.
Wan-Bissaka winning tackles
Watch footage of Aaron taking no prisoners during the 2022/23 campaign...
So is our no.29 as effective as tackling opponents as we think he is?
Stats site FBREF.com have shown that he really is. In fact, in terms of their 'dribblers tackled' category across the top five European leagues, he is way out in front. Our right-back won 23 of his 25 attempts to prevent being dribbled past throughout the campaign.
This put him well clear of second-placed Kim Min-jae, the Napoli centre-back, in terms of the rival top-flights and streets ahead of his closest challenger in the Premier League, Newcastle United defender Sven Botman.
It probably tells us what we already knew about the 25-year-old but the figure speaks volumes, whichever way you look at it.
TOP 'DRIBBLERS-TACKLED' STATS
1. Aaron Wan-Bissaka (UNITED): 23/25 = 92%
2. Kim Min-jae (Napoli): 25/29 = 86.2%
3. Daniel Vivian (Athletic Club): 36/45 = 80%
4. Eder Militao (Real Madrid): 26/33 = 78.8%
5. Sven Botman (Newcastle): 22/28 = 78.6%
Courtesy of FBREF.com. Covers the five major European leagues in 2022/23 - Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
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