Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira deployed Jeffrey Schlupp on the left-hand side of midfield against Manchester United to thwart Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Wan-Bissaka, who was playing against his former club, was handed his seventh consecutive Premier League start in yesterday’s 2-1 win against the Eagles at Old Trafford.
With his Manchester United future under Erik ten Hag, prior to the World Cup, looking bleak, United’s number 29 has had a remarkable renaissance since the domestic campaign resumed.
While Diogo Dalot, who was in control of the right-back berth before the domestic season paused, has had his own injury struggles recently, the former England Under-21 international has seized his opportunity and looks a man reborn.
Patrick Vieira played Jeffrey Schlupp on the left to nullify Aaron Wan-Bissaka threat
It’s testament to how well Wan-Bissaka has turned his fortunes around at Old Trafford that Vieira’s tactics prior to his Palace side coming to the Theatre of Dreams involved coming up with a tactical plan to stop the 25-year-old.
A big criticism of Wan-Bissaka, who signed for United from Palace for £50m in 2019, has been his inability to develop the attacking side of his game, and his unwillingness to get forward and contribute in the attacking third.
But the right-back has turned a corner since featuring in United’s two winter friendlies against La Liga sides Cadiz and Real Betis, during the December training camp in Spain.
And Vieira revealed in his post-match press conference that, Schlupp, who scored Palace’s consolation, was tasked with the job of keeping his former Eagles teammate shackled.
Vieira said: “I think he was really good today – we played him on the left-hand side [and] asked him to defend and to track Aaron’s [Wan-Bissaka] runs, and I think he did it really well.”
Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw (both 80) were the only United players to have more touches than Wan-Bissaka (77) in yesterday’s Premier League clash.
Wan-Bissaka was the only Reds player to complete a dribble, as per WhoScored.
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