It is not quite clear how Aaron Wan-Bissaka won back his place in the Manchester United side.
Diogo Dalot was playing well and offering an attacking thrust down the right flank but Wan-Bissaka came in for the clash with Leeds last month.
The Englishman did okay in sodden conditions but then Ralf Rangnick brought in Victor Lindelof at right-back against Atletico Madrid.
That was a decision that Rio Ferdinand said should have Dalot and Wan-Bissaka ‘spitting feathers’ but Wan-Bissaka got his place back the following week, while Dalot remains in exile.
That extended to Sunday’s Manchester derby loss, after which we wrote that the 2019 summer transfer market where Wan-Bissaka was among three new faces now looks worse than ever.
Wan-Bissaka, struggling captain Harry Maguire and now departed Dan James came through the door in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first transfer window in charge.
The English right-back tended to at least offer defensive solidity in many of his earlier United displays but now that has disappeared and he still has not made the requisite improvements going forward.
A look back at United’s 2-0 derby win two years ago to the day underlines the extent of Wan-Bissaka’s stagnation.
In that game, the last match in front of supporters before the first Covid lockdown, Wan-Bissaka was man of the match and impressively shackled Raheem Sterling.
That day, he made a staggering eight tackles, as per WhoScored, playing as a right wing-back as United had a gameplan and executed it to near-perfection.
On Sunday, he did not make a single tackle. He looks bereft of form and confidence and other England international right-back candidates have absolutely motored ahead of him.
Wan-Bissaka was bought with one eye on the future, in the hope that he could grow into the role and be United’s right-back for a decade, but he is currently going backwards and will have another new manager to impress in the summer.