Manchester United recorded a 1-0 victory over Real Betis in their Europa League last 16 tie, giving them a 5-1 aggregate win over the La Liga side and Erik ten Hag will be pleased at the professionalism shown by his side.
The 4-1 win a week ago was basically enough to ensure United a passage to the quarter-final stage and keep their slim dream alive of winning four trophies this term.
There were a few solid performances, with youngster Facundo Pellistri looking impressive as he played the full 90 minutes. He succeeded with three of his four dribble attempts, took 53 touches and even hit the woodwork, coming close to scoring his first goal for the club.
The tournament perhaps gives Ten Hag the opportunity to rotate his squad, especially with the Old Trafford side playing twice a week, while giving chances to young talents such as Pellistri to see if they can handle the pressure of the European stage.
An FA Cup quarter-final tie against Fulham awaits them on Sunday afternoon and with an ideal chance to progress into the last four, the Dutchman will need to make some changes, and dropping Aaron Wan-Bissaka to the bench must be one such change.
Will Aaron Wan-Bissaka start against Fulham?
The £50m right back didn’t have the best game against Betis last night, winning just one duel all match while receiving a rating of 6.8/10, the joint second-lowest score out of the United side.
The Englishman completed just 22 passes in 75 minutes, lost possession nine times whilst going forward, he failed to even complete one successful dribble attempt or cross during his time on the pitch.
His form in the Premier League this term hasn’t been great and he ranks tenth in the squad for clearances per game (1.8), fifth for tackles (1.9) and seventh for successful dribble attempts (0.6) and it’s clear that during the summer, Ten Hag must seek an improvement in the right back area.
Broadcast journalist Tamuka Charakupa criticised the defender during the draw with Southampton last week, saying: “Wan Bissaka always loses the ball, to be precise, in dangerous positions everytime.”
And perhaps Diogo Dalot should be given the starting berth against Fulham on the weekend.
In his 15-minute cameo, Dalot won two duels, one more than Wan-Bissaka, while also making one more tackle and with the games coming thick and fast, Ten Hag will surely have to ditch the Englishman.