Shaws form season before last is wildly overrated. I thought people were taking the piss and trying to be optimistic with the best lb in world shawberto carlos stuff at the time. He was merely good. The lack of stamina - being gassed an hour into the match every week, the lack of intensity, the lack of willingness to run were pretty big offsets to him being excellent on the ball.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 39
- Clean sheets
- 16
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 0
- Yellow cards
- 9
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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Ok last post on Shaw as I don't want to derail the thread. I'm practically a Malacia fan at this point and my post about Shaw wasn't to compare them as such and I agree their ceiling can be comparable although their skillsets are slightly different. I guess if I had to simplify it, it's just that I think we need raw running power in this team. It's such an unique but efficient and easy to use outlet in a well organised team that it would be a shame if Shaw can't find his feet to contribute to the team. I'm not saying Malacia doesn't have it but Shaw's ability in this regard is top tier.
I definitely agree on Shaw's ability as a ball carrier, such a natural with the ball at his feet.
Really hoping both he and Malacia are fit and firing because it gives us options.
An idea I was discussing earlier on here is the winger/full back relationship. One of the issues I had with Thursday's match was seeing both Malacia and Sancho coming inside and getting in each other's way because neither was willing to go on the outside. Sancho lacks the explosiveness to take on his defender down the line, hence why he needs an overlapping full back to offer that option. Rashford on the other had lack combination play intelligence but is explosive.
I think Sancho/Shaw and Rashford/Malacia could work quite nicely and we can use either based on the on the day requirements. What do you think?
Dalot's time here all in all has been woeful. Some decent performances of late though
It all depends on which Shaw we will see this season! I like Sancho because he is an intelligent and technical player, whereas with Rashford (like Shaw) I hope he can find his form because he is an explosive player than can change a game with individual brilliance. At the moment Malacia is first choice and both the aforementioned attackers are still finding their form so too much ifs and hypothesising at the moment.
That’s an impressive video. He is a really good footballer. Reckon there is lots more to come from him once the team is a bit more settled. 3 starts/games in is still a bit early to tell but he already looks good defensively. Massively sick of seeing Shaw out there. Him and Maguire have given us too much disappointment over the past year.
I liked everything so far about him, but I thought he could be bad at crossing, but his crossing from that game is basically world class, he created few great chances out of average crossing positions. And those cut backs were beautiful.
Has to be remembered that Shaw has played in a team that has had terrible movement with nobody making runs or moving into the right places. He often hasn't had anyone to pass to except for going back. Combine that with last season being in terrible form and a lack of confidence so he would be more likely to take the easy pass. Whereas these last few games we're starting to see the benefit of a bunch of new players and ETH's coaching, with more players seeming to move into better positions and making themselves available. That's made it easier for Malacia.I disagree
I don't think he's capable of playing through the lines like Malacia has shown already and is the most guilty party for going backwards instead of picking a forward pass out when it's sightly lower percentage.
We'll see what happens anyway. Malacia will be given a break eventually so it's on Shaw to make a claim.
There have been long periods (even before his great season) where Shaw has basically been our main and best playmaker. When he didn't play we looked toothless, but with him we were able to build attacking moves and find people in space. It was one of the big reasons we've always been so left-focused. In terms of him playing as an inverted fullback, the only real question for me is that he does tend to get on the ball and then get his head up to find the pass. He may struggle in a more central area with less time to make those decisions. If he's fine with that though, he should be very well suited to taking up that role.
Obviously the Shawberto Carlos thing was a bit of fun, but he probably was the best leftback in the world that season. Partly because the other main competitors for that title all had off-form seasons, but he also was fantastic. Fell away a bit in the final month or so of the season (where your criticisms did start being seen), but before that he was great.
Love him, he'l get better and better the more he settles
Just needs to get fit and he can win the place back, no question. He was amazing during the season he was injured, haven't seen that since.
If he starts running, and actually pressuring his man on defense instead of retreating every time, he could be immense.
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Just saw a tiny pre match interview with him. Such a happy little dude. Hope he bulldozes the Arsenal attack today.
Man Utd 3:1 Arsenal
Not sold by him yet. He is solid but still missing any impact in attack phase
PL baptism of fire today, overall he did well after struggling in the beginning. This will be a good learning experience for him.
He was a mess till our 2nd goal, and did nothing going forward again.
Until Martinez went down injured, I assumed Maguire was coming on for Malacia. Guess we'll never know now.
Not a great game but he will come good.
Had a hard time against Saka but i love him. Never gives up and that's a huge change from Shaw's defensive attitude. In possession he is very secure too, just unadventurous going forward which is fine. He'll improve with that, but the attitude is so good to see.
It was always going to be tough game for him, tbf he did better than I expected considering they targeted him the entire game.
He needs some rest now, and he'll be back better.
He needs some rest now, and he'll be back better.
Saka and Jesus destroyed him. Terrible game. Hopefully he learns from this.
It was a learning game for him. He had no clue how to deal with Saka though.
Violated by Saka, though fought back by the end. Still convinced he has to do better to keep his spot. Ten Hag is not someone to switch players in and out lightly though, so he'll get plenty of time.
The way he came back into that game after looking dead an buried in the middle section is hugely impressive.
A lot of lads would've dropped the head and gone missing out there. He took the beating he was getting and turned it round to finish the game on top.
Huge character. I love him.
A lot of lads would've dropped the head and gone missing out there. He took the beating he was getting and turned it round to finish the game on top.
Huge character. I love him.
He has the right attitude and a fantasitc mentality. He doesn't let his head drop and keeps on working hard. I can forgive some mistakes from a player like that
He did struggle with Saka at times but I think a lot of fullbacks will. He's got so much pace and can do you either side. He's a strong little unit as well. I thought Malacia fought back well and competed by the end. He's just come to the league from bloody Feyenoord, you are going to get tested by wingers in the PL.
Absolutely love Melissia!
Had a very very hard time today against a very good Saka.. He defintely has a lot to learn still, but what I like so much about the guy is that he just never gives up.. He's so composed mentally.. Had a very good clearance in the end.
Got his first real taste of the PL, Malacia. Saka was running circles around him. And he still keeps being so passive on attack. Still, he put in a shift and pulled himself together after a bad half. Decent performance, but still long way off.
Behave yourself
He'll learn a lot from that.
Kids a warrior.
Feck Shaw.
Kids a warrior.
Feck Shaw.
Meh, he's alright.
Every player, at some point, will have a difficult game. Even the best ones do. He kept going right to the end and didn't let his head go down. You sometimes learn more from the games where it doesn't go well.
I thought he was poor today. It was too easy for Saka to get past him. Several blunders. Surprised that Saka was so much quicker than him.
Did well late on when he was the only player back defending.
Did well late on when he was the only player back defending.
Started poorly but brought it back later in the game.
Poor today but then again our centre half partnership was rattled all game. Must be difficult to perform in those circumstances.
More than his very dodgy defensive performance today, I'm also a little bit disappointed by his attacking output so far. Shaw, when on song, is basically a playmaker from the left-back for us, helping us retain possession and build attacks. We're missing that a little bit at the moment, which might be part of the reason why we're struggling to keep the ball. Might be time to give Shaw a game, Malacia is young and has put in a great shift.
Malacia was baptized in the PL today, he will learn from it, no doubt.
Hats off to Saka who now looks like a complete winger and made Malacia look like an average LB.
Hats off to Saka who now looks like a complete winger and made Malacia look like an average LB.
It was because we tightened ourselves up with loads of DM/CM. Saka was brutal against him.
I like him alot. His persistence is impressive.
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