It’s that time of year again. The players trot out in their new kits and fans applaud their exciting new signings.
It’s a time for hope: Arsenal think they can win the Premier League and Everton think they can make the top four.
It’s this kind of hope that breeds ludicrous opinions – the kind that can only be said in August.
So let’s dissect a few of these crazy ideas currently doing the rounds…
🗣 Paul Parker:
“People talk about the lad at Liverpool, Alexander-Arnold, but he can’t defend like Wan Bissaka, whose defending and positioning is very good. He wants to defend, he loves it.
“I’m judging him as a defender. He's the best right-back in the Premier League." pic.twitter.com/1chcHNbFtr
— GOAL (@goal) August 12, 2019
A central defensive partnership of Maguire +Lindelof should be as strong as any in the @premierleague. Only Vertonghen + Alderweireld stronger in my view. Sure, Van Dijk is superb, so too Laporte, but not sure they have the partner(s). #mufc
— Dominic Booth (@DomBooth19) August 2, 2019
Absolute madness.
Let me be clear, it’s not because I don’t think Harry Maguire or Aaron Wan-Bissaka are bad players – on the contrary. I think they’re actually prudent signings on Manchester United’s part.
But there’s a big problem with this kind of analysis: they haven’t done a thing for United.
On the flip side, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander Arnold have done a few things already that may justify their level of hype.
The pair won the Champions League last season, made the PFA Team of the Year and had the best defensive record in the Premier League.
On an individual note, Van Dijk scooped the PFA Player of the Year award and is the favourite for the prestigious Ballon d’Or.
The #PFA Players’ Player of the Year 2019 @LFC and @OnsOranje defender @VirgilvDijk 🏆👏⚽️ #PFAawards #POTY pic.twitter.com/BLq2TFt2vR
— Professional Footballers’ Association (@PFA) April 28, 2019
The #PFA Premier League Team of the Year 2019👏 #PFAawards #TOTY pic.twitter.com/FX5tHbwhhx
— Professional Footballers’ Association (@PFA) April 28, 2019
Trent Alexander-Arnold is just the eighth player ever to record an assist in five straight Premier League games ✨
He’s 20. pic.twitter.com/hbJ4w5Qv6v
— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 9, 2019
What do those who suddenly put Maguire and Wan-Bissaka on the same level have to say about that?
Wan Bissaka vs Trent Alexander in 2018/19 defending stats: 👀 #MUFC pic.twitter.com/v7QbeWrxst
— Robyn Gill (@Robynjeet) June 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/utdxtra/status/1160289739347505153
I love stats as much as the next person – not all people do, in fairness! – and while the 2008 Titus Bramble comparisons are funny, the better one for me is Van Dijk and Dejan Lovren, specifically in their final seasons at Southampton.
As you probably remember, Lovren was a colossus at Saints before Liverpool shelled out £25 million for him – now he’s simply surplus.
That’s in part because there’s a big difference in defending for Southampton, with your full-backs tucked in beside you and two holding midfielders in front.
You don’t get that sort of luxury playing for a Champions League winning team, in Jurgen Klopp’s attacking style of play.
Andy Robertson and Alexander-Arnold are found so often at the edge of the opponent’s penalty area, while Fabinho is the only midfield cover afforded to Van Dijk.
Klopp demands Alexander-Arnold plays down the whole flank, defending and attacking, and boy does he attack.
Wan-Bissaka, meanwhile, was told to defend, defend and defend some more at Crystal Palace, getting plenty of help from the winger in front of him.
With 10 minutes to go at 0-0 in matches, Trent is whipping in crosses from the edge of the area, while Wan-Bissaka is trying to block them. That’s a big, big difference.
It’s essentially a completely different task to be a defender for a top-six team – one Maguire and Wan-Bissaka have not yet undertaken.
Again, it doesn’t mean they can’t take on this task, but let’s wait for the proof before anointing them?
Take heed though: things can change quickly. United fan’s aren’t going to like this part either.
In the 2017/18 season, David de Gea looked unbeatable as United finished second. He simply won them games in ways that no goalkeeper had done in a long time, saving over 80 percent of the shots he faced in the process.
The most memorable thing Alisson did that season was pick the ball out of his net seven times on his way out of the Champions League.
At the World Cup that summer, though, De Gea was dreadful. Spain were embarrassed, and it only got worse from there. Fifty-eight goals shipped in a Premier League campaign riddled with errors leading to goals – his save percentage dropped to 11 percent.
On the flip-side: Alisson won the golden glove in every competition he entered and is definitely in the conversation when it comes to discussing the world’s best.
Just like that, the world order has changed. Maybe that will happen to Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
For now, they are streets ahead of the United pair that their fans are suddenly comparing them to.
