Luke Shaw | 2026/27 Performances

Marwood said:
True about acceleration but these speed stats do counter the extreme argument that his legs have gone. You can't be topping speed charts if you're physically finished.

I've not been a massive fan of Shaw during his time here, he's been at times overweight and unfit in my opinion. Which will no doubt have contributed to the injuries. He looks fitter now than he did 7 years ago. Nor do I think he plays with the leadership you'd expect of a player with his experience. He's essentially the same lad we signed minus some pace. His game hasn't matured.

But he is still a good player. His legs haven't gone.

Apart from that one mistake, which can happen, fullbacks do get beat, he was good against Ipswich.
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It’s about intensity. Sure he can run a couple of times a match, but that’s not good enough. You need a player to keep going and going. Shaw has not got that in him anymore, he has to play well within himself. He plays in 2nd gear most of the game.
 
ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg said:
It’s about intensity. Sure he can run a couple of times a match, but that’s not good enough. You need a player to keep going and going. Shaw has not got that in him anymore, he has to play well within himself. He plays in 2nd gear most of the game.
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Yeah there are more energetic players but I think he's doing enough running and running at pace to be a good way off finished. We've seen fullbacks who are finished, Shaw isn't there yet.

Have we got his distance covered stat for the Ipswich game?
 
Rossa said:
I kinda agree with you, but as you also know, top speed can be a split of a second; it doesn't say anything about how long you are able to maintain that speed or how long it takes to get there, so it's not the best metric. Especially not this early into the season.

Also, I think one can quite easily spot players that have acceleration that transcends that of most players - Adama, Antonio Valencia, Owen, Doku, Vinicius, Mbappe, Giggs, Robben, Sterling, Lennon etc all had burst of pace that very few defenders were able to stick with. Not sure Doku or Sterling would ever have the highest top speeds (saw prime Sterling lose a fair few foot races), but for their role, that initial burst is what would get them away from their defender and make them a real handful to defend against. Then you have a select few that have both the acceleration and top speed such as Giggs, Robben, Ronaldo, Valencia, Dembele, Mbappe etc.

We should just have a relay - 40 yard dash relays with the five fastest players of each team (I think we'd finish down towards the bottom).
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I agree, but I did say that also. Those players at the top and bottom of the acceleration lists yes we can figure that out. That goes for all the players near the top and all the players near the bottom. They can be quite obvious at least in terms of do they have good acceleration or bad, harder to accurately compare against other people who have good acceleration or bad. Its the many guys in the middle where we're just guessing whether theyre more upper mid or lower mid acceleration
 
Shaw has never been among our fastest players, but I am surprised that—despite being injury-free for a year and only 31 years old—he could have lost so much pace.

He has looked incredibly slow in pre-season, and against Ipswich, he was at fault for a goal due to a lack of pace.

I don't recall him ever being quite as slow as he is now; it’s as if there has been a significant drop in his speed over the summer. But I do remember that happening to Gary Neville—he also experienced a sudden and marked decline in pace.
 
So given our two games a week schedule and him of all players being given a key person dependency for LB, how long are we giving before he breaks down?

I reckon we could get a betting pool going.
 
Rossa said:
First of all, 34,4 isn't a very high top speed, and they were going at it over a fairly long distance. What surprised me there, and all match was how slow Mbuemo looked.

Shaw has always had a pretty high top speed - many have talked about him being one of the fastest in the league once he hits top speed, also implicitly saying his acceleration isn't of the same calibre. It isn't and never has been, which makes sense considering his stocky build and frame.

As for him not going forwards: Dalot is clearly the fastest defender we have both over short and longer distances. Shaw is often caught upfield, so what's your excuse there? I'd be surprised if Yoro isn't second; he's looking quicker and fitter this season.
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This idea he has no acceleration is bollox, he’s gone from a standing start or from behind against some of the fastest players in the Prem and managed to go with or get ahead. Honestly no idea where the No acceleration thing has come from.

Ah yes Dalot is 1km faster, Luke is still a better defender, smarter and generally better ain all aspects.

Caught upfield? More so than Dalot?
 
Andersons Dietician said:
This idea he has no acceleration is bollox, he’s gone from a standing start or from behind against some of the fastest players in the Prem and managed to go with or get ahead. Honestly no idea where the No acceleration thing has come from.

Ah yes Dalot is 1km faster, Luke is still a better defender, smarter and generally better ain all aspects.

Caught upfield? More so than Dalot?
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Shaw may have a top speed but it dwindles quickly after a few accelertions to the point he's gassed early numerous times especially last season. As for Dalot, you're selling him short as Shaw as been at the front of 2 goals given away so far this season.
 
Ekeke said:
I agree, but I did say that also. Those players at the top and bottom of the acceleration lists yes we can figure that out. That goes for all the players near the top and all the players near the bottom. They can be quite obvious at least in terms of do they have good acceleration or bad, harder to accurately compare against other people who have good acceleration or bad. Its the many guys in the middle where we're just guessing whether theyre more upper mid or lower mid acceleration
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True. Dalot is an enigma for instance. He can look sluggish, but then he can nullify rapid wingers with his acceleration. Long or short strides can easily fool the viewer.
 
Andersons Dietician said:
This idea he has no acceleration is bollox, he’s gone from a standing start or from behind against some of the fastest players in the Prem and managed to go with or get ahead. Honestly no idea where the No acceleration thing has come from.

Ah yes Dalot is 1km faster, Luke is still a better defender, smarter and generally better ain all aspects.

Caught upfield? More so than Dalot?
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He is often skinned for acceleration like he did last match. His top speed has always been good, even very good, but his acceleration was never great. If you think he has good acceleration then go ahead sir. I strongly disagree. His agility is also a massive concern these days.

Dalot has often been cited as our fastest or at near the top for fastest players by most of them such as by Dan James, Rashford etc, and Dalot also being often quoted as one of the fastest in the league. Shaw is not.
 
Luke can still do a job for us, but I worry that fatigue will grind him down over the course of the season and we'll be reduced to makeshift solutions at LB.
 
Isn't his contract up at the end of the season? He'll want to save himself for one last deal at another club which could hinder us.
 
I have zero doubt on his quality, he is still among the best LBs in the league. I just hope he can stay fit this season too and play around 30-34 league games.

I am always stunned by the disrespect that he gets from some portion of our fanbase.
 
edgecutter said:
Isn't his contract up at the end of the season? He'll want to save himself for one last deal at another club which could hinder us.
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He won't get a good deal anywhere if he doesn't play well and often. Don't think we need to worry too much about him phoning it in.
 
I'd still play him once a week, either in league or CL. Pretend it's last season.
 
Andersons Dietician said:
This idea he has no acceleration is bollox, he’s gone from a standing start or from behind against some of the fastest players in the Prem and managed to go with or get ahead. Honestly no idea where the No acceleration thing has come from.

Ah yes Dalot is 1km faster, Luke is still a better defender, smarter and generally better ain all aspects.

Caught upfield? More so than Dalot?
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It's called an agenda.
Posters will get on his case because they are not happy we didn't spend a shipload of cash in this window.
Any supporter with an idea would know he is a top player and would hope he can stay injury free and not wait with bated breath until he gets one!
 
Bondi77 said:
It's called an agenda.
Posters will get on his case because they are not happy we didn't spend a shipload of cash in this window.
Any supporter with an idea would know he is a top player and would hope he can stay injury free and not wait with bated breath until he gets one!
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I loved Shaw in the past. I defended him back before his 'Shawberto' season when he was getting a lot of criticism for not bringing enough to the attack, as back then he was contributing a lot to the team as a whole which people were overlooking. His passing out from the back contributed a lot to how we built our play in general and he almost acted like an extra playmaker at times, while also being very solid at pretty much every defensive aspect (other than standing off his winger a little too much and allowing them to cross too easily). So while he wasn't getting much in the way of goals or assists, he was still real quality. Then he had a few seasons where he started contributing a lot to the attack as well which catapulted him up to being one of the best LB's in the world (the actual best for one season).

Based on the second half of last season (which is the only time he's consistently played at LB in the last three years) he no longer brings that all-round game. Not only has he declined offensively, but he really wasn't bringing the playmaking ability and general build-up play that he used to do. His side of the field is also weaker defensively, as when he does get forward he finds it harder to get back.

I certainly don't think he's as bad as some are making out. I've got no problem with him being one of the two players we should have for LB. But, unless he suddenly winds the clock back 4+ years, he's no longer a 'top' player. I have noticed that during preseason and these last two games he actually is getting forward a bit more than he was last season so I will give him that. I suspect that's simply due to the relatively low quality of the opposition though combined with how early into the season we are, and have my doubts that it'll continue as the season goes on.
 
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Just saw the Ralf Rangnick clip from 2020 talking about us needing to replace him and he’s still a starter SIX years later. Incredible really. Absolutely zero ambition.
 
Carlsen19 said:
Just saw the Ralf Rangnick clip from 2020 talking about us needing to replace him and he’s still a starter SIX years later. Incredible really. Absolutely zero ambition.
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He was the United player's player of the season in 2021, so his foresight wasn't as great as you're making out.
 
Dorgu should be our LB. Shaw backup and backup CB where he is very good.
 
Pat Evra said:
I have zero doubt on his quality, he is still among the best LBs in the league. I just hope he can stay fit this season too and play around 30-34 league games.

I am always stunned by the disrespect that he gets from some portion of our fanbase.
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Agreed. Easily our most illogically disrespected player relative to his skill set and abilities. Fortunately, Carrick sees things through a different lens.
 
Raoul said:
Agreed. Easily our most illogically disrespected player relative to his skill set and abilities. Fortunately, Carrick sees things through a different lens.
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Carrick almost certainly wanted Lewis Hall in his team while Shaw sits on the bench.
 
Love him, hate him or just don’t mind him, he’s what we got so we go with it and hope 1. He stays fit and 2. He can offer a bit more going forwards once Baleba is integrated in to the team to cover.
 
Dominos said:
Carrick almost certainly wanted Lewis Hall in his team while Shaw sits on the bench.
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That wouldn't have been unreasonable given that Shaw is out of contract next summer. But the fact nonetheless remains that Shaw is our player for the next 10 months at least.
 
Why is his length of time at the club used as a stick to beat him with? It's very odd.

'what are the club doing, Shaw has been here since 2014' 'Shaw has been our starting LB for too long'.

I don't think Shaw has ever been a problem for us, when not injured. I get that availability is a skill so we arguably should have moved him on but it's strange to discuss that when he's been fit and played every game for over a year. I tend to find our fans underestimate how hard it is to find decent full-backs, there's hardly any in the PL.

People watch PSG, and the two lads there and expect United to have the same.
 
Marwood said:
Yeah there are more energetic players but I think he's doing enough running and running at pace to be a good way off finished. We've seen fullbacks who are finished, Shaw isn't there yet.

Have we got his distance covered stat for the Ipswich game?
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The issue with his legs isn't about one off games at the start of the season. It's a question of whether he can sustain that playing once or twice a week over the season. Even towards the end of last season with a much lighter schedule, he was looking gassed. That's rightly a concern.
 
What worries me now is he will know in his head, no matter how many stinkers he has, he'll still be first choice and starting no matter what, cus we are desperate.

This was the issue in the past with other players... awful every week but we had no other options so stuck with them and nothing changed.
 
dutchred said:
Mazaroui played all his games in the WC at left back
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I'd prefer him over Shaw. I think Mazraoui is underrated on this forum. He's not excellent by any means, but he doesn't have any glaring weaknesses either.
 
Good assist but will cost us this season with regular consistency. How many goals is that already?
 
Thought he had his best game this season honestly. The problem today were all the horrible passes in poor positions our team gave away that lead to easy counters. That and our poor clearances which gave additional chances. No defense will withstand that for very long.
 
Actually did very well with Rashford. He was a bit unlucky with their first goal, that was some strike and Lammens should have been better to get beat at his near post like that.
 
Thought he had a very solid game.
 
Good performance today, easily a 7/10. Made some good blocks and even made great runs down the wing, linking up with Rashford.

Shouldn't be blamed for the first goal at all. He was right to to drift in centrally, but wasn't quick enough to close down to George. Maybe if this was Football Manager, he would've blocked it. I don't know what Maguire was doing before it either.
 
Was probably our best player today. Doesn’t mean all that much as everyone except for Rashford was pretty bad.

Made a good few overlaps and linked well with Rashford, made blocks, made tackles and got an assist. He covered others mistakes, He won headers, he got back at people, and the only bad thing was maybe he could have got closer to George but he’d moved inside to cover an Everton player running off the back of Martinez.

Overall he was the one bright spot.
 
Sound have been left on really. For that little left in the game you want to keep your best performers on the pitch
 
Based Adnan said:
Good assist but will cost us this season with regular consistency. How many goals is that already?
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We're moving away from one game a week now. This is where I see him picking up a knock over time and being out for a long period.
 
Credit where it's due, was good today. A couple of really important blocks and a fantastic overlap and assist.
 
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