How Aaron Wan-Bissaka became the best one-on-one defender in the world

A fter watching Aaron Wan-Bissaka pocket Kaoru Mitoma in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Brighton, Leicester’s James Maddison took to Twitter. “AWB is ridiculously good at 1 v 1 defending,” he wrote. “Probably the best in the world bar none. So many wingers run out of ideas when playing directly against him.”

Mitoma has been a breakout star this season, propelling Brighton towards European qualification. It is fair to say he is currently one of the most exciting wingers in world football, and even wrote a university thesis on dribbling, using cameras to analyse his teammates and how one might gain an advantage. But at Wembley the Japanese lost all six duels with Wan-Bissaka and lost possession 17 times before being substituted. When asked about the United right-back after the game, Mitoma said: “He is a strong opponent, that is what I thought while playing. I think it was a complete defeat.”

Wan-Bissaka being described as a standout one-on-one defender is nothing new. But the numbers are startling. Of the 2,168 players to have attempted 100+ tackles in Europe’s top five divisions since the start of the 2017-18 season, no one has a better tackle success rate than the 25-year-old. He has stolen the ball 449 times in 571 attempts, an astonishing rate of 78.6%. No other full-back in Europe comes close.

So how did a former winger, who did not receive any formal tackling training until he joined Crystal Palace’s Under-23 squad, become the game’s best one-on-one defender?

Wan-Bissaka’s development from inconsistent right-winger to undroppable right-back in Palace’s academy came as something of a surprise to all. But once he was settled in his new position his agility, intelligence, anticipation and