Wan-Bissake v Trippier - the figures

Wan-Bissake v Trippier - The Figures

Aaron Wan-Bissake is a 21-year-old right-back born in London and playing for Crystal Palace.

As there has been a lot of talk about him and people only looking at what he does defensively, I thought I'd have a look from the important angle a coach looks at, what he creates going forward.

In the modern game and particularly in our systems, what a full-back does in attack comes before what he does in defence. The centre-back and the defensive midfielder are your primary defenders, who are assisted by what are wing-backs rather than traditional full-backs these days.

Their changing role, they are the crossers of the ball rather than the wingers in football worldwide today, makes it an important factor in any purchase.

In the Premier League he scored no goals and had 3 assists.
He had 0.3 shots per game, made 0.4 key passes per game, made 1.7 dribbles per game, was fouled 0.5 times per game, was offside 0.1 times per game, dispossessed 1.1 times per games and made 1.2 bad controls per game.

In the same competition, Kieran Trippier scored 1 goal and had 3 assists.
He had 0.3 shots per game, made 1.8 key passes per game, made 0.3 dribbles per game, was fouled 0.9 times per game, was offside 0.2 times per game, dispossessed 0.5 times per games and made 0.7 bad controls per game.

Those stats would signify that trippier is more of an attacking threat than Wan-Bissaka, which isn't surprising considering he is one of the best crossers of a ball at the club. His volleyed crosses can be the difference between a chance created and no chance, something Wan-Bissake doesn't have in his locker.

Tottenham play a possession-based game so passing and retaining the ball is an important factor.

Wan-Bissaka makes an average of 33.3 passes per game, Kieran Trippier makes 57.1
Wan-Bissake has a pass success rate of 73%, Kieran Trippier has a pass success rate of 78.9%
Wan-Bissake makes 0/3 crosses per game, Kieran Trippier makes 2 crosses per game
Wan-Bissake plays 1 long ball per games, Kieran Trippier plays 2.6 long balls per game
Wan-Bissake plays 0 through ball per games, Kieran Trippier plays 0.1 through balls per game

Quite clearly the statistics show Trippier to be a better player going forward, so let's look at it defensively.5
Wan-Bissake makes 3.7 tackles per games, Kieran Trippier makes 2.7 tackles per game
Wan-Bissake makes 2.4 interceptions per games, Kieran Trippier makes 0.9 interceptions per game
Both commit 0.7 fouls per game
Wan-Bissake wins 0.3 offsides per games, Kieran Trippier wins 0.6 offsides per game
Wan-Bissake makes 3.7 clearances per games, Kieran Trippier makes 2.3 clearances per game
Wan-Bissake is dribbled past 0.3 times per games, Kieran Trippier is dribbled past 0.9 times per game
Wan-Bissake blocks 0.5times per games, Kieran Trippier blocks 0.2 times per game


Defensively Wan-Bissake comes out on top, but you lose an attacking threat and it is goals that win matches. A full-back is an essential ingredient of any attack and Wan-Bissaka on these figures would reduce our attacking capability.

Personally, I think with a summer's rest, Trippier will return to form next season so I wouldn't have any problem retaining him, but of course, we do need to look for a younger long term replacement and 22-year-old (23 in August) Kyle Walker-Peters is not that player. KWP is a backup Kyle Naughton type homegrown squad player on low wages.

He serves a purpose but if we are building a team to challenge for the title and to challenge in the Champions League then he isn't good enough, simple as that.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a 21-year-old (22 in November) while Kieran Trippier is a 28-year-old (29 in September).

Trent Alexander Arnold demonstrated for England that the attacking threat of a full-back in the modern games comes first and defensive sides come second, a side he has still to improve greatly.

All I hear about Wan-Bissaka is defensive, nobody is shouting about his attacking prowess and that is what we need to be looking for. Until he improves that area of his game he isn't the star that loads of fans seem to think he is.

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