[arthurka]

Don't like his approach.. Thought he was poor v Spurs and again last night. Had a decent spell in second half but overall poor.

 

[el3mel]

I don't understand his positioning when we are defending, it's clearly tactical as he does it every single game but it doesn't make any sense.

He is practically playing on top of Maguire and leaves too much space for the opposition players to attack in to.

AWB tucks in at times too but unlike Shaw he has the pace to to close down the opposition but Shaw doesn't.

For some reason we seem to think that this improves our defending in the box but we defend worse when he does this and concede far too many chances from his side.

People actually starting to notice this ? It's pretty weird isn't it ? He weirdly joins the defense as an additional CB in every single attack on us. I'm not saying this doesn't happen, it does but Shaw seems to do it every single attack and without having anyone to cover the space he leaves when he does that. It's just really weird.

 

[abkmufc92]

People actually starting to notice this ? It's pretty weird isn't it ? He weirdly joins the defense as an additional CB in every single attack on us. I'm not saying this doesn't happen, it does but Shaw seems to do it every single attack and without having anyone to cover the space he leaves when he does that. It's just really weird.

I understand the thinking behind it, wanting to close down the space in box but it would only make sense in doing this if Rashford tracks back or if our CM moves across but that doesn't happen.

Someone mentioned that city do this, yeah they do but not to the extent that Shaw does it and unlike our team they have someone else covering that position whilst their full back tucks in.

 

[el3mel]

I understand the thinking behind it, wanting to close down the space in box but it would only make sense in doing this if Rashford tracks back or if our CM moves across but that doesn't happen.

Someone mentioned that city do this, yeah they do but not to the extent that Shaw does it and unlike our team they have someone else covering that position whilst their full back tucks in.

Exactly that's my problem. This move happens, but when it happens there should be someone covering the space he leaves. What happens is he becomes an additional CB and no one tracks back to cover for it at all, leaving the flank completely empty. You think that if this was agreed on tactically, Rashford or Pogba will be there covering the space or something.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Sort of defeats the purpose if he switches off to look at Luke Shaw when telling him to fecking switch on after Luke lost the ball.

Just seems like one of those things people latch on to as if anything he looks like he is shouting at Paul who plays a passenger ball and the ref then invites the player back on to the field behind Luke. Agreed he should have had it in his mind there is that player off injured, but given he had a reasonable game up until that point and only improved seems weird to me that he was singled out.

As I said earlier Harry is the last one who should be commentating on others performances and should really look at his own because again yesterday he was pulled all over the shop and going to areas he didn’t need to go.

Favourite been when he tried to nick the ball and fell over and took an age to get up whilst Sheffield United had a free run at the space he’d vacated.

 

[Brightonian]

Not really getting all the heat in here. He looked good against Sheffield to me. Typically more defensively-minded and the attacking wasn't going up his wing anyway but he looked very much like one of the senior players out there, a safe pair of hands who passed well, defended well and hardly put a foot wrong.

 

[KennyBurner]

Not really getting all the heat in here. He looked good against Sheffield to me. Typically more defensively-minded and the attacking wasn't going up his wing anyway but he looked very much like one of the senior players out there, a safe pair of hands who passed well, defended well and hardly put a foot wrong.

he is too static in attack and doesn't provide width. he receives the ball and stands with it???? he has no excuse because Rashford is hardly on the wing when we are moving the ball in their half. You look at AWB and he is always ready to overlap when pogba is just outside the box with the ball. Does AWB have two heads?

Defensively he likes to back off and hardly makes an attempt to harass his attacker. he invites the pressure which is too risky im my opinion.

I will give him more time as due to the break but lets see if he improves on his passiveness in the next few games. I like my fullbacks to be very active and provide width which he currently isnt doing enough.

 

[Brightonian]

he is too static in attack and doesn't provide width. he receives the ball and stands with it???? he has no excuse because Rashford is hardly on the wing when we are moving the ball in their half. You look at AWB and he is always ready to overlap when pogba is just outside the box with the ball. Does AWB have two heads?

Defensively he likes to back off and hardly makes an attempt to harass his attacker. he invites the pressure which is too risky im my opinion.

I will give him more time as due to the break but lets see if he improves on his passiveness in the next few games. I like my fullbacks to be very active and provide width which he currently isnt doing enough.

Rashford was stuck to the wing all game!

What you 'like' 'your' fullbacks to do is not really relevant here, is it. Shaw is not a gung-ho, bomb-forward fullback. I realise that's unfashionable at the moment but it doesn't change the fact he's very good at what he does do. Because of players like AWB and Shaw, the likes of Rashford and Greenwood (and hopefully Sancho, one day) have far less defensive responsibility than they would playing with glorified wingbacks. We will potentially be putting out a very attacking set of midfielders and forwards, so it makes sense to have a back line built on defensive solidity first.

 

[Grande]

I understand the thinking behind it, wanting to close down the space in box but it would only make sense in doing this if Rashford tracks back or if our CM moves across but that doesn't happen.

Someone mentioned that city do this, yeah they do but not to the extent that Shaw does it and unlike our team they have someone else covering that position whilst their full back tucks in.

Are you thhinking about established defense, or first wave of defense? Because one thing I’ve noticed under the oppo’s first wave of attack, is that Shaw will often tuck in and wait out the attacking player instead of pressing actively and out wide. This makes sense because Rashford as almost a left striker is absolved of helping him in the first wave, so Shaw will often be one against two, or when Matic/Fred comes over, two against three. Pushing out or pressing high/wide will be wrong in those situations because he will just be bypassed. We saw this on several occasions against both Tottenham and Sheff Utd. It’s a calculated risk of our gameplan to let Rashford stay in more dangerous positions, and it demands more from a back in terms of holding back, tucking in both in first wave of defense and also when we attack (to guard against counter attacks). Thus Bruno and Pogba and even Matic will more often go out left to combine with Rashford, whereas on the right, it will mostly be AWB and the RW against their left sided defense.

This makes Shaw look more passive than he actuallly is capable of being, and he is the right kind of player to do it with his speed, strength, cautiousness and now improved positioning.

 

[Beachryan]

He has so much natural talent, but strikes me as one of those players for whom it comes too easily. Not sure he has the 'edge' of some professional athletes.

Still obviously fine to get him to this level, but I feel like he could be a step up, with the right mentality.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Are you thhinking about established defense, or first wave of defense? Because one thing I’ve noticed under the oppo’s first wave of attack, is that Shaw will often tuck in and wait out the attacking player instead of pressing actively and out wide. This makes sense because Rashford as almost a left striker is absolved of helping him in the first wave, so Shaw will often be one against two, or when Matic/Fred comes over, two against three. Pushing out or pressing high/wide will be wrong in those situations because he will just be bypassed. We saw this on several occasions against both Tottenham and Sheff Utd. It’s a calculated risk of our gameplan to let Rashford stay in more dangerous positions, and it demands more from a back in terms of holding back, tucking in both in first wave of defense and also when we attack (to guard against counter attacks). Thus Bruno and Pogba and even Matic will more often go out left to combine with Rashford, whereas on the right, it will mostly be AWB and the RW against their left sided defense.

This makes Shaw look more passive than he actuallly is capable of being, and he is the right kind of player to do it with his speed, strength, cautiousness and now improved positioning.

Yes I agree. Shaw does a really good job of tucking in and infact both he and AWB are good are protecting the centre when the attack comes down one side.

His recovery, heading and positioning is underrated in that regard.

However, the actively pressing out wide bit is what differs between him and AWB. AWB will close down the space and block off any easy one-twos, whilst trying to force his man down the channel i.e into a dead end. Shaw trotters out with not much conviction and by that time, the wide player has space to take him on and/or put in an easy (fairly unchallenged) cross.

I think Shaw is afraid of getting beaten (probably PTSD from Mourinho) and happy to not make a challenge a bit like Lindelof, which is infuriating because he has all the physical attributes to bully anyone.

It's partly mental and as poster as mentioned, a poor approach. Ole needs to hold him accountable here.

 

[Grande]

Yes I agree. Shaw does a really good job of tucking in and infact both he and AWB are good are protecting the centre when the attack comes down one side.

His recovery, heading and positioning is underrated in that regard.

However, the actively pressing out wide bit is what differs between him and AWB. AWB will close down the space and block off any easy one-twos, whilst trying to force his man down the channel i.e into a dead end. Shaw trotters out with not much conviction and by that time, the wide player has space to take him on and/or put in an easy (fairly unchallenged) cross.

I think Shaw is afraid of getting beaten (probably PTSD from Mourinho) and happy to not make a challenge a bit like Lindelof, which is infuriating because he has all the physical attributes to bully anyone.

It's partly mental and as poster as mentioned, a poor approach. Ole needs to hold him accountable here.

You may be right about the Trauminho hypothesis, in addition to WB can take risks no-one else can (or should) due to his capasity for recovery.
I still think the biggest factor is the difference in strategy on the left and right. Rashfor is told to stay up longer and go deeper than a normal W in a 4-2-3-1, whereas James, Mata and Greenwood clearly have more defensive responsibilities (regardless of their defensive capacity - this is clearly a ploy to keep one of our main spearheads as much in the dangerous areas as posible).

If Rashford was best on the right side, I bet you we’d see AWB defend like that much more often, and maybe even struggle more as Shaw to me is better in 1 vs 2 situations.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

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[georgipep]

You may be right about the Trauminho hypothesis, in addition to WB can take risks no-one else can (or should) due to his capasity for recovery.
I still think the biggest factor is the difference in strategy on the left and right. Rashfor is told to stay up longer and go deeper than a normal W in a 4-2-3-1, whereas James, Mata and Greenwood clearly have more defensive responsibilities (regardless of their defensive capacity - this is clearly a ploy to keep one of our main spearheads as much in the dangerous areas as posible).

If Rashford was best on the right side, I bet you we’d see AWB defend like that much more often, and maybe even struggle more as Shaw to me is better in 1 vs 2 situations.

I agree with what you said and, admittedly off-topic, but this also results in why our right wing in general is less dynamic or productive. People generally assume that the players we put there are sh!t or it's not their best position. Both of which may be right but, for me, the main reason is tactical. Whether people agree that this tactics is the best, is a whole different story.

 

[criticalanalysis]

You may be right about the Trauminho hypothesis, in addition to WB can take risks no-one else can (or should) due to his capasity for recovery.
I still think the biggest factor is the difference in strategy on the left and right. Rashfor is told to stay up longer and go deeper than a normal W in a 4-2-3-1, whereas James, Mata and Greenwood clearly have more defensive responsibilities (regardless of their defensive capacity - this is clearly a ploy to keep one of our main spearheads as much in the dangerous areas as posible).

If Rashford was best on the right side, I bet you we’d see AWB defend like that much more often, and maybe even struggle more as Shaw to me is better in 1 vs 2 situations.

It's a theory but AWB is still ultimately more proactive in his closing down of space when it's 1-on-1 or 2-on-1. I think the first half of the Sheffield Utd game is a very good example and why a lot of people said he was poor.

He didn't anything majorly wrong but that's the issue, he was far too happy to shift across to his wide player, not applying much pressure and waiting/hoping for cover. Now the idea of stalling a player and waiting for your team mates is good. However, you still need to close the angle, space and have the guts to apply pressure on the guy with the ball.

It's funny because we have AWB, the full back massively protecting Lindelof (who actually had a good game but is a passive loaf most of the time imo) and then Maguire the CB going out into the channels protecting Shaw.

Then we have AWB, who is the willing runner, overlapper and crosser but much weaker on most of those aspects and on the ball compared to Shaw who is much more assured but shows half of AWB's convictions.

It's bloody frustrating.

I said it in another post, that Shaw decided to go beast mode channeling those LVG days in the last 20mins when the game was already won and dead.

 

[Grande]

It's a theory but AWB is still ultimately more proactive in his closing down of space when it's 1-on-1 or 2-on-1. I think the first half of the Sheffield Utd game is a very good example and why a lot of people said he was poor.

He didn't anything majorly wrong but that's the issue, he was far too happy to shift across to his wide player, not applying much pressure and waiting/hoping for cover. Now the idea of stalling a player and waiting for your team mates is good. However, you still need to close the angle, space and have the guts to apply pressure on the guy with the ball.

It's funny because we have AWB, the full back massively protecting Lindelof (who actually had a good game but is a passive loaf most of the time imo) and then Maguire the CB going out into the channels protecting Shaw.

Then we have AWB, who is the willing runner, overlapper and crosser but much weaker on most of those aspects and on the ball compared to Shaw who is much more assured but shows half of AWB's convictions.

It's bloody frustrating.

I said it in another post, that Shaw decided to go beast mode channeling those LVG days in the last 20mins when the game was already won and dead.

It will be interesting to follow. Not saying I’m right and you’re wrong, and I definitely think Shaw is generally too cautious As well. I do think AWB is best 1-on-1, but Shaw is best 1-on-2 exactly because he is less proactive.But that doesn’t mean he’s always right in staying close to the box.

Another story is that i find Lindelöf generally more proactive than Maguire, but Maguire is the cornerstone and the airially responsible, and does what he wants. Lindelöf is proactively adjusting all of the time. He smothers a lot of fire, just like he did in the WC when he made a 33 year old CB retiring from the Russian league look like a Baresi. But thats for another thread.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Luke Shaw is the only one to have started all 13 matches in United's unbeaten run. (MEN)

Interesting

 

[Santoryo]

Another one of those United players that get unfair criticisms. Him, Martial and Pogba get given unfair sticks for bizarre reasons.

 

[Eugenius]

I suspect he’s one of those Rooney types who look terrible if they haven’t played regularly

 

[Adam-Utd]

I suspect he’s one of those Rooney types who look terrible if they haven’t played regularly

Yep similar heavy set body types.

No coincidence Rooney was the same and Shaw has always been at his best in consistent runs, not in and out of the team under Jose.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

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I did wonder why so many people seemed of the opinion he was poor midweek vs Sheffield. Bar the first 20 mins that was clearly a tactic gone wrong he was generally really good.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

He was poor all the way through. Not the guy you want on the pitch when your team is chasing for a goal.

 

[Roux]

Awful player - he's a second slower than anyone on else the pitch. Has no footballing brain whatsoever - everything is hit and hope - crosses, tackles, shots etc.

 

[TheNewEra]

Dreadful attacking.

Hesitant on the ball.

All Shaw does is stand wide, and pass it 2 meters to Rashford or whoever is nearest to him.

He doesn't get the ball and drive down the byline, he doesn't take a touch to set himself for a cross in the corridor between the attackers and the goalkeeper (where defenders are scared to touch the ball or it might go in).

He literally stands there, and passes it and offers nothing to the attack.

The club needs a LB... the biggest problem in breaking down big teams is no width, no drive down the channels... teams can just sit narrow vs United because there's nothing in wide areas.

Shaw is not helping with that.

 

[Godfather]

He was poor but to be honest he isn't getting any rest.

 

[mu4c_20le]

He was fine in the first half and then faded in the end. I thought he went off for Williams.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

No attacking quality whatsoever, it felt like Norwich were fine with Shaw having the ball in dangerous areas because they knew he'd do nothing with it.

I don't think he's good enough if we want to be challenging for the big trophies.

 

[Cutch]

Atrocious attacking fullback. Hasn't got a notion what to do in the opposition half

 

[FootyGirl88]

We need an upgrade, going forward he doesn’t know what to do.

 

[slored1]

He was obviously tired towards the end. Never should have started though.

 

[arnie_ni]

I only seen from HT, i thought he was our best player.

Overlapping runs, dangerous crosses, defended well.

 

[FootyGirl88]

Also why does he keep putting so many high balls into box? We don’t have Fellaini anymore.

 

[Yagami]

Made a great recovery run when Pukki was through one on one, and played a key part in Ighalo's goal. Overall, another good game.

3 full games in quick succession, with one of them going to extra time. Good to see him being able to play this much after past issues.

 

[0le]

Defensively I thought he was okay. He seemed to tire towards the end. His attacking play remains hit and miss. Too often he refuses to take a man on when he has the pace to do so. It is something he can work on so it will be interesting to see if he is able to develop that area of his game.

 

[Leftback99]

He sees so much of ball but does absolutely nothing with it.

 

[The United]

I thought he was pretty good in general.

His final product should be better though.

 

[Scrumpet]

I think he's good at football.

 

[vodrake]

Had a solid game. Heavily involved in the first goal, drove forward with the ball all game, made a lot of good runs and made a great defensive run when one of their forwards was through on goal to block his progress

 

[Classical Mechanic]

He‘s alright but not top class. You’d want to upgrade but it’s not a priority.

 

[Raven]

Thought he was arguably our best player this evening. Was creating so much space for Rashford to waste. His fitness was impressive as well.