You sure you’re not thinking of Brandon Williams? I’m sure there is certainly occasions when Traore went by him but when they’ve been in straight sprints body to body Shaw has more often than not come out on top. Shaw has also sent Traore flying.
And yes he has matched Walker for pace, Walker was played through by Bernardo and Rashford had let him go and Shaw came across to match Walkers run and not only kept pace but got his body infront and ushered the ball out for a corner.
The point still remains that Shaw is a physical weapon. Strong, fast, good balance and that has always been there so are we re-writing history? I think not.
No, both Matic and Shaw simulatenously went in on Traore and he sent both flying. He’s also accelerated past Shaw numerous times. Shaw has great top speed but isn’t amongst the quickest in terms of acceleration. He’s not even our fastest defender. I think Varane would be…
Do you honestly think Shaw has the speed of Walker? Good top speed for sure, but not elite like Walker.
He lost a straight foot race with a head start against Villa I believe, resulting in a goal, and that player was fast but not Walker fast.
Yes, Shaw is great physically. Very strong, fast, good leap, but please, let’s not write a narrative far removed from the truth. He often fails to stop crosses because he struggles on the first five-ten yards, and his positioning as a fullback can be suspect - not so as a centre back, thus far. He’s been brilliant.
Sounds like I’m bashing Shaw here, but I really like him. When fit he’s amongst the best fullbacks in the league. His first touch is sublime, and he’s brilliant moving the play up the pitch. His lokg range passing has also suprised me of late - really good! His final ball is not quite there, and defensively he can be a little suspect, yet far better than many other modern fullbacks.