Manchester United have had several standout players over the past few weeks, with nobody more important than Diogo Dalot.
With the Kobbie Mainoo‘s of this Manchester United team taking the spotlight – and rightfully so – there has been a real improvement across the board which has facilitated this good form.
One of Erik ten Hag‘s biggest unsung heroes has been his ‘relentless’ fullback, Diogo Dalot, who’s been thriving over the past few months.
Often a figure who has actually divided opinion among the Old Trafford crowd with some inconsistent displays in his time, but now at the age of 24, he’s coming into his own as one of the Premier League‘s best.
In doing so, he’s finally proved Jose Mourinho right, just six years after he joined from Porto in June 2018 for a fee of £19m.
Diogo Dalot is finally proving Jose Mourinho right
Upon Dalot’s arrival at the club, Mourinho was thrilled with his signing as he lauded the then youngster, labelling him the best young full-back in Europe while speaking with BBC Sport.
“In his age group, he is the best full-back in Europe. He is an extremely talented young defender with all the qualities to quickly become a great player for this club.”
Now this finally looks to be the case as he becomes a true standout performer for the club. This season as a whole has been really impressive at both left and right back.
His four-goal contributions have been secondary to his defensive work and quality on the ball in that inverted role. Often he struggled defensively with his battle to start against Aaron Wan-Bissaka seen as attack vs defence at times.
But now, Dalot is leading in all areas and his season stats showcase this as he overshadows his defensive peers at the club and also the majority of his positional peers in the league.
Diogo Dalot has been defensively dominant for Manchester United
This season has seen Dalot become a much more balanced version of himself and he is often a leader on the field as well.
According to FotMob, his stats have been phenomenal this season with his defensive numbers being massively impressive so let’s have a look at them.
For starters, Dalot has won 28 tackles this season which puts him as better than 88.9% of his positional peers. On top of this, he’s won a whopping 91 duels which is better than 87.7% of other right-backs. He’s also dominated aerially with 23 aerial duels won which is better than 84%.
He’s made 21 interceptions (better than 81.5%) and made 130 recoveries (better than 96.3%). Lastly, he’s blocked six shots(better than 92.6%), including an incredible one to prevent Jarrod Bowen from scoring last weekend. With these stats, he’s the club’s most effective full-back in almost every department.
Dalot has probably been the most consistent player in United’s defence and he’s nailed down his position over Wan-Bissaka. We even feel he’s got a chance at winning the club’s Player of the Year award if he continues to impress this much.