The Resurgence Of Shaw

[Alek M]

Are you guys serious? SALAH had 6 shots today. Luke's defending was abysmal.

He is a type of a player that has a good game like last o e against Liverpool and the he thinks he is world class. He should have been much better in defense.

He pushes us forward but I want him to make one good assist pass in the box.

 

[cyril C]

Are you guys serious? SALAH had 6 shots today. Luke's defending was abysmal.

He is a type of a player that has a good game like last o e against Liverpool and the he thinks he is world class. He should have been much better in defense.

He pushes us forward but I want him to make one good assist pass in the box.

Salah had X shots last week, was primarily due to Shaw. Salah had Y shots yesterday, was partly due to Shaw, but a more open game that gave him space. But Shaw was definitely responsible for the 1st goal, being 0.5s too late. His overall contribution is much improved in recent weeks for sure.

 

[MadDogg]

Are you guys serious? SALAH had 6 shots today. Luke's defending was abysmal.

He is a type of a player that has a good game like last o e against Liverpool and the he thinks he is world class. He should have been much better in defense.

He pushes us forward but I want him to make one good assist pass in the box.

A number of those Salah shots were when Liverpool overloaded that side, with a 3v1 happening at least once. Shaw had no real choice but to force the ball to the widest player.

Shaw probably should have done better for the first goal (although Salah would have been offside if Lindelof hadn't suddenly dropped with him) and maybe the second (not his fault he was out of position but he could have got back faster), but he couldn't do too much for the others.

 

[Longshanks]

Are you guys serious? SALAH had 6 shots today. Luke's defending was abysmal.

He is a type of a player that has a good game like last o e against Liverpool and the he thinks he is world class. He should have been much better in defense.

He pushes us forward but I want him to make one good assist pass in the box.

I think you might be being a tad harsh on shaws defending today, you do realise that sometimes opposition players and teams will score goals and create chances especially quality outfits like liverpool and Salah. He didnt do a huge amount wrong really the mistakes for both goals come from other players .

Salah always has alot shots hes greedy and any sniff of a chance he takes a shot at.

 

[PieCrust]

I think Shaw's resurgence has also been due in large part from the Telles signing. Having competition for spots is very necessary and it's great to see Shaw have the proper mentality to step up.

 

[kouroux]

Are you guys serious? SALAH had 6 shots today. Luke's defending was abysmal.

He is a type of a player that has a good game like last o e against Liverpool and the he thinks he is world class. He should have been much better in defense.

He pushes us forward but I want him to make one good assist pass in the box.

Like the last hopeless volley in injury time ? It doesn't say everything when you look at the number of shots a player makes

 

[PaulRich]

1st goal was all on Lindelöf dropping deep at the wrong time playing him on. Shaw was just fine tonight - kudos needs to be (begrudgingly) given to Salah who raised his game big time compared to his showing last weekend.

 

[Adcuth]

Wasn't Martial was our main CF throughout the restart and playing well? I just don't understand the young man and I can imagine he doesn't always put a good training session in. He probably goes through the motions just like he seems to do in most matches. I'm just thoroughly, like many, disappointed in him.

Or he sees Cavani as a replacement and is sulking rather than having the will to fight for his place and improve

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Or he sees Cavani as a replacement and is sulking rather than having the will to fight for his place and improve

When Martial is sulking, you'll know. I don't think he is sulking right now. He's always been inconsistent and when he's not running with the ball and making things happen, the other flaws in his game become even more evident.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

1st goal was all on Lindelöf dropping deep at the wrong time playing him on. Shaw was just fine tonight - kudos needs to be (begrudgingly) given to Salah who raised his game big time compared to his showing last weekend.

I'd point the fingers at the midfield for allowing them that kind of time and space on the ball more than any single defender.

 

[Adcuth]

This is what I'm talking about @Andersons Dietician

Evra's highest level was right up there with the very best full-backs in the world for at least five years straight. He was a one-man left wing for the best team in Europe between 2006/09. He virtually never missed a game for seven seasons. When he was 32 and visibly past his best, he was still contributing to one more league title and even popping up with more headed goals than someone of his size had any business contributing (and then he left and still managed to play in another Champions League final while Daley Blind was keeping his successor out of the United team).

Can we please not embarrass the man by comparing him to Luke Shaw?

This.

Evra at his best was still a couple of levels above Shaw regardless of how good he's been recently. An amazing player

 

[Adcuth]

Are you guys serious? SALAH had 6 shots today. Luke's defending was abysmal.

He is a type of a player that has a good game like last o e against Liverpool and the he thinks he is world class. He should have been much better in defense.

He pushes us forward but I want him to make one good assist pass in the box.

How many on target minus the goals? Its Sarah, he'll always have shots.

 

[Idxomer]

I'd point the fingers at the midfield for allowing them that kind of time and space on the ball more than any single defender.

McTominay, Lindelof and Shaw all had a part in conceding the 1st goal.

 

[Adcuth]

McTominay, Lindelof and Shaw all had a part in conceding the 1st goal.

Was a lovely pass too though

 

[Idxomer]

Was a lovely pass too though

Yeah, perfectly weighted.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Was a lovely pass too though

Yeah, perfectly weighted.

We know Liverpool have quality so it’s no surprise. I expect them to be a shed load stronger for the PL game.

 

[Raven]

He's literally a world class talent. Elite level athlete - the strength, pace, explosiveness. And his technique and the level of consistency he has with his ball control under pressure is just unreal. As another poster mentioned, the way he has taken one component of his game (set plays/crossing) and so drastically improved it in a short space of time shows an elite mentality and dedication as well, reminiscent of Rooney suddenly becoming a heading and free kick specialist.

If he can avoid injury this season, I predict it will be common for him to be seen as the best left back in football by the end of the season.

He was in the team of the season at 18 playing for Pochettino at Southampton. Van Gaal cherished him and he was our key player at 20 until the moment against PSV. He has been our player of the season at 23 under Ole. It was only the Toxic One who couldn't be bothered to manage him. Instead of building a player up and showing patience with someone who was in recovery from an injury that could have ended him, he instead saw it fit to publicly and unprofessionally criticise him. Disgraceful management.

I'm a bit late here but this is a great post. Succinctly puts into words how good he's been and helps dispell the myth that he's just coming good now.

 

[noodlehair]

Not seven a game, no. But one over the entire 2019/20 season would have been a great start. Baby steps.

Now we have someone saying he's currently better than Robertson too. Is that because of the funny face Robertson made? He's having a way better season than Shaw, FFS.

He's definitely improved his crossing massively but I don't think his attacking play is anything new. He's always had the ability to surge through players and can actually pick out a good pass when it's on.

I don't really see Robertson as a realistic target as Liverpool set up specifically to use their fullbacks as attacking players and rely on their midfield to cover the gaps. We rely a lot more heavily on our fullbacks defensively. They still need to get forwards but it's really not the end of the world if they're not setting up assists every game and also completely unrealistic to expect them to.

Shaw's biggest problem has always been maintaining his fitness. Outside of randomly becoming a set piece expert and improving his crossing he's always had the same attributes.

I think the same of Bissaka. He's actually a very good player but for some reason people expect unrealistic things from him. He isn't going to be getting TAA assist numbers becuase that just isn't how we use our fullbacks, so we don't want a right back that only knows how to attack. Even Patrice Evra very rarely directly set up a goal, but the bonus was he was a forward player and a solid defender at the same time. So you wouldn't have the opposition forward running riot unopposed in the way Rashford did on Sunday.

 

[Denis' cuff]

Great to see him looking motivated again but still needs to smarten up his defending. Consistently loses his man and drifts inside, following the ball, often getting under Lindelof/Maguires feet

Good thrusting runs, I’m sure will soon enough produce

 

[King Azaz the Unabridged]

Again though, no one's expecting Shaw and Wan-Bissaka to get as many assists as Robertson and Alexander-Arnold do in a team that's specifically designed, as you said, to use fullbacks as the main creators*. That's an honestly stupid and reductive argument.

The problem is that you still need your fullbacks, or at least one of them, to be dangerous in the final third, especially against deep defences. Which are going to be the majority of the teams United face over a season. And that's when an unfit Shaw and a regular Wan-Bissaka together are not an ideal pair. And it's not at all unrealistic to expect better from them.

*adding a PS here because a lot of people seem to mix this up: the reason Liverpool use their fullbacks to create is because both of their fullbacks are incredible crossers, not the other way around. You say Wan-Bissaka won't get TAA assist numbers because that's not how we use fullbacks; well, sure, but he won't get TAA assists if you stuck him in the Liverpool team either, because he's a fairly poor crosser and Alexander-Arnold is one of the best in the world.

 

[KennyBurner]

When I look back at my criticisms of him my problem was no overlapping runs. Well would you guess what he has been doing more of?

 

[Zlatan 7]

Didn’t like him when he came, took a few years to warm to him in all honesty, now I’d have him as one of my favourite players and love his commitment these days

 

[UnrelatedPsuedo]

Are you guys serious? SALAH had 6 shots today. Luke's defending was abysmal.

He is a type of a player that has a good game like last o e against Liverpool and the he thinks he is world class. He should have been much better in defense.

He pushes us forward but I want him to make one good assist pass in the box.

World class footballer has lots of shots in a wide open game?

Not something to beat Shaw over the head with.

 

[King Azaz the Unabridged]

Definitely missed him today.

I was really hoping Telles would be a genuine upgrade at LB, but so far all he's offered is some nice set pieces. And Shaw's decided to be good at them now, so it's not really a contest at this point.