Aaron Wan-Bissaka was thrown in at the deep end, and like everything he does, he's come out stronger

By now, Aaron Wan-Bissaka is getting used to being put in bad positions and coming out the other side.

The 20-year-old right-back made his professional debut in February as an injury crisis and relegation-threatened Crystal Palace pressed him into action. His first three games in senior football came against Tottenham, Manchester United and then Chelsea, but the full-back acquitted himself superbly. By the end of the season had been rewarded with a new, long-term contract and established himself as first choice in Roy Hodgson’s team, having stunned the former England boss with his rapid development.

“I am surprised because when he came into the team against very tough opponents, I think his opening games were Man United, Chelsea, Tottenham,” said Hodgson. “The sort of ones where you are almost putting him to sink or swim and he certainly learnt to swim very quickly.”

open image in gallery

In a position that Palace could otherwise have had to spend in excess of £20m this summer, the club instead re-signed Joel Ward as back-up and put their faith in the swimmer Wan-Bissaka, who began the season tasked with a one-on-one battle with one of England’s best young players in Ryan Sessegnon.

“They are both very, very good players,” said Hodgson, when asked about the tussle between two prospective stars of the English game. “I’m sure Slavisa [Jokanovic] is very happy to have Sessegnon in his ranks just as I am happy to have Aaron in mine. He’s bright in that he’s very receptive to information. He’s very serious about his football.

“I think I’ve seen him get better over the last six months. How much better he can get, who knows but at the moment we’re more than happy with him because he’s doing everything we need him to do on the field and that’s proven today against a team of Fulham’s quality. They had a lot of technical players on the field, a lot of pace, they’ve come off a fantastic season, they’re very used to each other, the way they play, and yet I don’t think either Aaron or Patrick [Van Aanholt] had any serious problems dealing with it.”

open image in gallery

Not only did Wan-Bissaka keep an 18-year-old future England international quiet all day, showing a defensive discipline that belies his background as winger rather than a full-back, but he then played a decisive role in the goal that sealed their hard-fought opening-day win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Palace continue to be one of the best counter-attacking teams in the league. It is the style that suited these players last season and it was what brought them victory against an impressive Fulham side that dominated possession and otherwise hit the ground running in the Premier League.

The lesson for the hosts was that in the top flight you don’t get second chances. Palace, industrious and well-organised, picked them off with counter-attack goals in either half after limiting Fulham to few clear opportunities. Slavisa Jokanovic, frustrated, acknowledged that “mistakes we made in the past are going to be more expensive than in the Championship.”

open image in gallery

But with 12 minutes to go and Fulham pressing on, Palace were holding on.

Then Andros Townsend, who linked so brilliantly with Wan-Bissaka down the right-hand side all day, played a pass to Christian Benteke on the left touchline, 30 yards from his own goal. It was hardly vintage Benteke territory but the Belgian looked up and unleashed a wobbling crossfield pass spanning the width of the field to Wan-Bissaka.

The pass fell a little behind the advancing defender, giving the tireless Aleksandar Mitrovic a sniff. But by this point, Wan-Bissaka is used to being put in bad positions and emerging unscathed. Mitrovic, never one to shirk a tackle and even less so with the desperation of being 1-0 down at home in the dying minutes, flew into Wan-Bissaka’s back and then had a second bite at the full-back as the ball bobbled loose.

But 20-year-old Wan-Bissaka bounced the Serbian international off and was on his way, he ducked inside an onrushing midfielder and was finally galloping into space with only the Fulham defence in his way. Wilfried Zaha made a diagonal run and Wan-Bissaka, having already showed strength, speed and poise, demonstrated his technical prowess by weighing a perfect through-ball for Zaha to round Fabri and score the deciding goal.

And yet for all those visible, measurable qualities, it is telling that Hodgson, when discussing the young defender, always seems to make first mention of the youngster’s “receptiveness” to learning, his mental capacity and intangibles. “He’s got a very good mentality,” said Hodgson. “He’s got determination and he showed an enormous resilience.”

A good start to the season against newly-promoted opposition was a welcome boost for Palace after last season’s 3-0 opening-day defeat to Huddersfield at Selhurst Park. That sparked a run of defeats that would cost Frank de Boer his job by mid-September and see Palace lose seven on the bounce.

Things are different now, and Saturday at Craven Cottage was a day where the slate was wiped clean. Their summer additions are few but deliberate, their team and coach and style are largely the same and the outlook, having kept talisman Zaha and added some quality, is unmistakably sunnier than it has been for a year or more.

And a big part of that is their emerging full-back, an ascendant young talent who has shown just what he can do when he’s put in bad positions. Now he has the chance to demonstrate it in a team that is putting him in a situation to succeed.