Axel Tuanzebe is a rare Manchester United bright spot this season as they aim to launch turnaround against Liverpool
- Congolese defender is on the cusp on making the starting 11 for Premier League games
- United face tricky task against Liverpool on Sunday – will Tuanzebe be in the starting line-up?
February 2019, in a cobbled back alley near Old Trafford. Liverpool FC are making a documentary called Us and Them on the rivalry between England’s two biggest football clubs. It has been delayed but should air this week ahead of the league game with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday. It’s well done and another way in which Liverpool are excelling off the field as well as on it, while Manchester United slipped behind on the pitch and off it in key areas like communication. The club know this and plan to do something about it.
Those making the film are from Liverpool and they’ve got a spring in their step. They watch Liverpool home and away, but after seeing English football for almost their entire lives dominated by Manchester United, the tide has turned in their favour. They were top of the league in February on the way to winning the European Cup, a trophy they’ve won a few times before.
A passing comment stands out from someone who wrote about Liverpool when they were nowhere to be seen in the title race. He bemoaned those days and having to write another what he called: “Liverpool didn’t win today but Joe Allen played well” piece. They were scraping the barrel.
It feels the same now with Manchester United, a team who’ve picked up a miserly nine points from the first eight games.
And it hardly helps that Liverpool are up next before a run of four away games. So what’s the current Joe Allen moment for Manchester United?
Axel Tuanzebe is just about the only good thing in the last month.
Hopefully he’ll get a few games in his position when things settled down, but he’s an immense defender
Nicky Butt, a head of United’s academy, told the South China Morning Post: “I felt for him with his mistake against Arsenal but he will be the first person to hold his hands up. What happened against Arsenal won’t affect him one bit. Hopefully he’ll get a few games in his position when things settled down, but he’s an immense defender. He’s powerful, one-on-one you’re not beating him, he’s good with the ball and he has a great temperament. I think he has a big future.”
Butt has been nothing but consistent. In 2017, this writer asked Butt to name one prospect from his charges. Butt simply replied “Axel.”
Tuanzebe, 21, had to bide his time at the start of the season. Aston Villa, who he helped promote to the Premier League, wanted him on loan again, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted him to stay and play. Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof then started as the central defensive pairing and Tuanzebe didn’t get off the bench in any of the first four league games.
The grass might well have been greener playing every week elsewhere, but Tuanzebe played 90 minutes as a central defender in the 1-0 struggle over Astana and was the best player on the pitch. As a consequence, he was not only chosen for his first start of the season, but named captain against Rochdale in the Carabao Cup.
Tuanzebe had before that captained United at every age group except the first team. Now that was going to change against the team from the town where he arrived with his family from DR Congo. Tuanzebe couldn’t speak English, only French and Lingala, but his family quickly integrated and he started to excel at school.
By 14 and in United’s system, he was at Ashton on Mersey school with other young footballers, missing lots of lesson as he played so much football. He slowly learned to “knuckle down and do well in school. By 16, he obtained top marks in his exams and was easily advanced-level material.
United didn’t convince against Rochdale, but Tuanzebe did. Again, he was the best player in red as his side scraped through on penalties to meet Chelsea in the next round. He kept his place as a left back against Arsenal and – a mistake that led to their equaliser aside – played well. He was used in his natural position as a central defender against Newcastle United in the last game, a mood-sinking 1-0 defeat. But, with Victor Lindelof out with a back injury, Tuanzebe was United’s best performer at the back.
As Lindelof and left back Luke Shaw return to training, it will be a big shout if he starts against Liverpool on Sunday, but it’s a welcome and much-needed option for Solskjaer to know he has Tuanzebe available either as a central defender or a full back in a game against a side who look far superior. What United will be hoping for is not another Joe Allen moment, but a win “and Tuanzebe played well” – along with the rest – headline.
