THE WAN WHO STOOD OUT ON OPENING DAY
Local lad inspires Palace against big spenders
There was so much to admire about Aaron Wan-Bissaka at Craven Cottage and most of it was encapsulated in the gallant charge out of defence which created the second goal for Wilf Zaha.
Wan-Bissaka collected the ball inside his own half and set forth on the counter-attack, only to be barged to the floor by the muscular presence of Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Without a hint of fuss, the youngster climbed back to his feet and carried on, leaving Mitrovic behind in a bewildered stance, before he accelerated past ryan Sessegnon as he found his stride and rolled a perfect pass into Zaha.
This speed, determination and awareness of the 20-year- old full back had Crystal Palace fans buzzing.
Wan-Bissaka was making only his eighth senior appearance; each has been as sure-footed as the one before. his debut came in February against Tottenham amid a defensive crisis and his next two appearances were against Manchester United and Chelsea. ‘They were the sort of games where you’re almost putting him in to sink or swim,’ said roy hodgson, his manager.
‘ he certainly learnt to swim very quickly.’
Wan-Bissaka is of Congolese descent but was born in Croydon and he made his england Under 20 debut in March, another exciting young player emerging for Gareth Southgate to keep an eye on.
And another product of Palace’s impressive youth system. he has been at the club since he was 11, starting out as a winger before a switch to full back last summer.
‘he was playing at right back for the Under 23s,’ said hodgson, who arrived in his job in September. ‘We just took that at face value. he’s a right back, is he a better one than the one we’ve got? Can he do a job for us if the other one gets injured?’
Palace let loanee Tim Fosu-Mensah return to Manchester United. The young Dutchman was among Fulham’s unused subs on Saturday, having gone out on loan again. Joel Ward and Martin Kelly were on the visitors’ bench and Wan-Bissaka, who signed a new deal in April, was in the team.
The position is his to lose, and hodgson’s faith was repaid as WanBissaka’s natural athleticism proved perfect to neutralise the threat of Fulham’s 18-year-old star, Sessegnon.
‘They are both very good players,’ said hodgson. ‘ I’m sure Slavisa Jokanovic is very happy to have Sessegnon in his ranks, just as I’m happy to have Aaron in mine.
‘he is bright, very receptive to information, and he’s very serious about his football.
‘I think I’ve seen him get better over the last six months. how much better can he get? Who knows, but he’s doing everything we need him to do and that was against a team of Fulham’s quality, with a lot of technical players and a lot of pace.’
Fulham made a positive enough start in a vibrant atmosphere against Crystal Palace before Jeffrey Schlupp opened the scoring just before half-time.
Fulham were then denied what seemed to be a clear penalty when Mamadou Sakho tripped Andre Schurrle before Zaha pounced late on. It was a warning of what to expect against clinical opponents designed to play on the break, and yet Jokanovic vowed not change the open, attacking style which has become his trademark.
‘This is the Premier League,’ said the Fulham boss. ‘ We will find more power, more speed and more quality. The mistakes we made in the past in the Championship will prove more expensive. ‘We must adapt, definitely, but if you ask me if I will park the bus in my box and try to finish the game 0-0, I don’t have this quality in my team.
‘We don’t play with Benteke and Zaha and after a few passes try to play behind the defenders. The team is comfortable in possession of the ball.
‘We are ready for the risk. Always in my life I take some kind of risk. I believe there is less risk doing what we are doing than to park the bus and try to finish 0-0.
‘Yes, we will try for our style. We must build a Premier League team, and modify what we have.’
FULHAM (4-3-3): Fabri 6; Christie 6, Chambers 5, Le Marchand 5.5, Bryan 6.5 (Vietto 72 min, 5); Seri 6 (Johansen 82), McDonald 6, Cairney 6.5; Schurrle 6 (Kamara 61, 6), Mitrovic 7, Sessegnon 6. Subs not used: Rico, Kebano, Fosu-Mensah, Cisse. Booked: McDonald. Manager: Slavisa Jokanovic 6. CRYSTAL PALACE (4-4-2): HENNESSEY 8; Wan-Bissaka 7.5, Tomkins 6, Sakho 6, Van Aanholt 7 (Souare 90); Townsend 7 (Kouyate 88), McArthur 6, Milivojevic 7, Schlupp 6.5; Zaha 7.5, Benteke 6 (Sorloth 83). Subs not used: Guaita, Ward, Kelly, Riedewald. Scorers: Schlupp 41, Zaha 80. Booked: Zaha, Schlupp. Manager: Roy Hodgson 7.5. Referee: Mike Dean 6. Attendance: 24,821.