Ayden Heaven | 2026/27 Performances

The defence fell apart on the left side as soon as he left the pitch. A good game from him. How does he stay out of the team now?
 
greater wall said:
The defence fell apart on the left side as soon as he left the pitch. A good game from him. How does he stay out of the team now?
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Thought his passing was poor today, been good overall in preseason though, he does give us a lot more athleticism back there though so I’d agree, he should start in the team simply because Martinez isn’t full fit yet.
 
greater wall said:
The defence fell apart on the left side as soon as he left the pitch. A good game from him. How does he stay out of the team now?
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He doesn't, he should be playing the first two games of the season to give Martinez time to get match fit. The first two games of the season will be

Shaw-Heaven-Maguire-Maz/Dalot

Yoro and Licha on the bench and then let Yoro and Licha come in later. Honestly we need De Ligt back and in form. I wouldn't be surprised if Licha gets supplanted by the end of the season as the LCB starter.
 
sleepehead said:
He doesn't, he should be playing the first two games of the season to give Martinez time to get match fit. The first two games of the season will be

Shaw-Heaven-Maguire-Maz/Dalot

Yoro and Licha on the bench and then let Yoro and Licha come in later. Honestly we need De Ligt back and in form. I wouldn't be surprised if Licha gets supplanted by the end of the season as the LCB starter.
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I agree. Licha looked like he needs time. Our first cup game will be after our 3rd league game, so maybe Heaven gets the first 3 games as long as we look okay defensively, then you see if Licha can run (he could not run today).
 
Tom Van Persie said:
Set to start the season
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Rightfully so, he’s very impressive for such a young player who very very inexperienced in a very difficult position. Spent most of his youth development as a midfielder. Has the height, pace and on ball ability to make the left centre half position his own. Him and Yoro were extremely good in a partnership in the pre season, also brought the best out of Santos. Hopefully Carrick will select players on form going forward.
 
andersj said:
No.
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Athletic Profile & Speed
Top Speed: 36.36 km/h
Attributes: Good recovery pace and mobility that allow him to cover wide defensive zones and support a high defensive line.

So faster than Van Dijk who’s recorded at 34:9km/h. In fact our fastest defender. But yeah ‘no’ is your opinion.
 
Ruud_Street said:
Rightfully so, he’s very impressive for such a young player who very very inexperienced in a very difficult position. Spent most of his youth development as a midfielder. Has the height, pace and on ball ability to make the left centre half position his own. Him and Yoro were extremely good in a partnership in the pre season, also brought the best out of Santos. Hopefully Carrick will select players on form going forward.
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This was really quite interesting to find out the other day in that interview with his mother. If I recall correctly he had one season as a CB prior to joining us. Quite incredible really.
 
Assuming De light is usually injured, Maguire and Heaven would easily be my starting pairing. Think they compliment each other very well. De light is probably our best defender but just not reliable.

Pretty happy with a Maguire / Heaven pairing on a consistent basis.

Dalot and Shaw or Dorgu as fullback for me.
 
Ruud_Street said:
Athletic Profile & Speed
Top Speed: 36.36 km/h
Attributes: Good recovery pace and mobility that allow him to cover wide defensive zones and support a high defensive line.

So faster than Van Dijk who’s recorded at 34:9km/h. In fact our fastest defender. But yeah ‘no’ is your opinion.
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You dont have to believe anything you read that you like. I googled and got the same answer. But I followed up with asking where that number came from and got the following answer:

«That is completely fair skepticism. You are exactly right to question it, as a top speed of 36.36 km/h would rank him among the fastest players in the world, putting a 6'2" centre-back right next to elite sprinters like Erling Haaland or Anthony Elanga. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The 36.36 km/h figure actually comes from an informal, community-calculated video tracking analysisthat went viral on social media. Fans calculated his top speed using Old Trafford's penalty box dimensions and video timestamps during one of his explosive recovery runs. While video pixel-tracking is a fun tool for fan analysis, it is rarely as precise as official stadium tracking. [1, 2]

The Real Data
In official club measurements and video analysis, his true physical ceiling is much more grounded: [1]
  • True Estimated Match Speed: Real-time data adjustments of those explosive counter-transition runs put his peak on-pitch sprint closer to 34.6 km/h (roughly 21.5 mph). [1]
  • Official Video Profile: Tactical analysts highlighting his transition tracking note that his true strength is his massive stride length and acceleration, allowing him to easily match fast attackers stride-for-stride, rather than hit world-record top speeds. [1]
  • EA Sports Tracking: To put his pace into perspective across the broader football world, EA SPORTS FC 26 assigns him a base Pace rating of 69 (with 69 Sprint Speed and 69 Acceleration) on his standard card. [1, 2]
While he is highly athletic and remarkably quick for a teenage defender, the "36.36 km/h" stat is definitely a product of generous internet math! [1]
If you want, I can share:
  • A look at his actual defensive stats for Manchester United
  • A breakdown of how he compares to other young Premier League centre-backs [1, 2]»

I think Heaven looks slow on the first yards. There is no way 36 kmt is true.
 
Yeah, short term and long term this lad needs to be playing.

We just can’t be fielding Maguire/Shaw regularly in 2026/27.

*Ideally I would like to see one of Heaven/Yoro in the back four every match.
 
RuudTom83 said:
Yeah, short term and long term this lad needs to be playing.

We just can’t be fielding Maguire/Shaw regularly in 2026/27.
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Maguire will be playing most games. Due to DL being injured and Yoro inconsistent. And he offers us a threat in the air in both boxes. Heaven is miles above Martinez right now.
 
Regarding his pace/speed, he has a long stride and a wide body, meaning, you would have to kick the ball past him and get in front to comfortably beat him. As long as he doesn't dive in, has good positioning and isn't in open space, he'll do fine. Small sample size but he does okay in 1 vs 1s. It's his reading of the game in transition and in more complex defensive situations that worry me. Still very inexperienced and doesn't have natural all around defensive instincts. He's still a talent though. If we can play the game mostly in front of him, we can lean onto his passing qualities and composure. The issue is that you have Shaw as LB, who plays in 2nd gear most of the game and is lazy on and off the ball.
 
criticalanalysis said:
Regarding his pace/speed, he has a long stride and a wide body, meaning, you would have to kick the ball past him and get in front to comfortably beat him. As long as he doesn't dive in, has good positioning and isn't in open space, he'll do fine. Small sample size but he does okay in 1 vs 1s. It's his reading of the game in transition and in more complex defensive situations that worry me. Still very inexperienced and doesn't have natural all around defensive instincts. He's still a talent though. If we can play the game mostly in front of him, we can lean onto his passing qualities and composure. The issue is that you have Shaw as LB, who plays in 2nd gear most of the game and is lazy on and off the ball.
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I kinda wish we experiment him as a LB who tucks in the midfield when we push up. Definitely not possible unless we have a quick LCB to help cover just in case.
 
It's quite astonishing to think Heaven and Yoro are still only 19 and 20 respectively. They're both not sure starters yet, and have a lot of their game to improve, but I think we should be grateful for what we have. They could establish themselves as first choice CB pairing for more than a decade to come.

Then again, that's what I thought about Smalling and Phil Jones 15 years ago.
 
andersj said:
You dont have to believe anything you read that you like. I googled and got the same answer. But I followed up with asking where that number came from and got the following answer:

«That is completely fair skepticism. You are exactly right to question it, as a top speed of 36.36 km/h would rank him among the fastest players in the world, putting a 6'2" centre-back right next to elite sprinters like Erling Haaland or Anthony Elanga. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The 36.36 km/h figure actually comes from an informal, community-calculated video tracking analysisthat went viral on social media. Fans calculated his top speed using Old Trafford's penalty box dimensions and video timestamps during one of his explosive recovery runs. While video pixel-tracking is a fun tool for fan analysis, it is rarely as precise as official stadium tracking. [1, 2]

The Real Data
In official club measurements and video analysis, his true physical ceiling is much more grounded: [1]
  • True Estimated Match Speed: Real-time data adjustments of those explosive counter-transition runs put his peak on-pitch sprint closer to 34.6 km/h (roughly 21.5 mph). [1]
  • Official Video Profile: Tactical analysts highlighting his transition tracking note that his true strength is his massive stride length and acceleration, allowing him to easily match fast attackers stride-for-stride, rather than hit world-record top speeds. [1]
  • EA Sports Tracking: To put his pace into perspective across the broader football world, EA SPORTS FC 26 assigns him a base Pace rating of 69 (with 69 Sprint Speed and 69 Acceleration) on his standard card. [1, 2]
While he is highly athletic and remarkably quick for a teenage defender, the "36.36 km/h" stat is definitely a product of generous internet math! [1]
If you want, I can share:
  • A look at his actual defensive stats for Manchester United
  • A breakdown of how he compares to other young Premier League centre-backs [1, 2]»

I think Heaven looks slow on the first yards. There is no way 36 kmt is true.
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34.6km / hr is definitely above average even if we decide that this source is better than the previous
 
Definitely deserves to start. Hoping he and Yoro form a really good partnership this season, we'll be sorted for a decade!
 
You can quote as many top speed stats as you want, but his pace is about average. We've seen him beaten for pace a few times, and he doesn't have recovery pace to make up for a slow first five yards. He's quite agile though, so he normally does OK, but he isn't a Khusanov, prime Rio etc who can outpace pretty much any attacker. He's 19, so he has plenty of time to improve on his physical attributes - the guy is just about finished growing. If he puts the work in, I can see him, and Yoro, improve quite a bit in terms of acceleration, top speed and strength - especially Yoro as he has always been regarded as a fast/very fast player, but a growth spurt can definitely derail that for a while, and then it can come back as you grow into your body.

What sticks out to me is that we have a 19 year old and a 20 year old who are almost ready to play first team football in the PL. That is seriously impressive. We also have Maguire, Martinez and De Ligt as the senior players. IF, and a big! if, the three senior players can stay fit, we can manage Heaven's and Yoro's minutes well. Come next season or the season after, one of them would be a starter, or maybe both.
 
Wouldn't be against him being used in CM now and again when we need more physicality there. Assuming we don't buy another CM.

Games where we're hanging on or protecting the lead. Just pop Heaven in front of the CB's.
 
Not one of his finer performances. The two injured CBs can't return soon enough
 
He can't defend and not sure why is he getting picked ahead of Yoro.
 
A tendency to fall asleep.
 
Not going to overreact, wasn't his best performance. Unto the next, Yoro looks in a bit finer form. Can't rely much on Martinez or de Ligt for now.
 
I like him a lot so that was a real disappointing performance. All the more so because I think LCB is very much a position up for grabs
 
Not switched on which is criminal from a defender. Switching off on a set piece, a winger would get lambasted for what he did on the first goal. He's a CB...

He's still young, hopefully one day it clicks but that was the same story as last season, when a senior CB and one of the youngsters played we struggled defensively.
 
We need the two senior CBs to start as soon as possible.

But I did say, I forget if it was this thread or another, that Yoro is better than Heaven and should be starting over him. Hopefully after today that’s the case.

Ayden’s young and has many things to improve on, which I’m sure he will. He’s just not ready yet.
 
His sister was on Paddock a couple of weeks ago says "This is his year". Well that lasted long.
 
Looked lost and overwhelmed by the occasion. He had no idea how to communicate with Maguire and just couldn't handle McBurnie in aerial duels.
 
Really poor today but he's young and will have much better days. I like his passing but he really needs to improve under a high ball. Slow to jump/misjudged the flight of a few today
 
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