[Hernandez - BFA]

Shaw will have his fittest season yet given he’ll be on the bench for a lot of it.

Great game from him. Very likeable.

 

[Isotope]

I thought Malacia, Martinez and Varane were absolutely superb. Martinez and Malacia play with a high intensity and a real will to win that must be infectious for the players that are playing with them.

Under different circumstances both Malacia and Martinez are probably introduced gradually, but they've been thrust into the deep end and done fantastically well.

Both played like they've been here for years. Insane performance for newcomers.

 

[Litch]

Will def become a fan fav….

 

[KiD MoYeS]

Shaw is in trouble.

 

[Flying_Heckfish]

Great game from him. Positioning, recovery, timing, pace, all positive. Bags of energy but utilised intelligently. Can he do it consistently is the question.

 

[BlueHaze]

Not going to lie. The way he played today made those 13m look like a great bargain. Hope he can keep it up! Today I am hella proud of his performance.

 

[ChaddyP]

not bad for a 14 million pound eredivisie player

 

[Baneofthegame]

Great against Salah today.

 

[Prodigy24]

Been a fan since his debut in the preseason, and absolutely loved watching him tonight! Hope he makes that LB position his own.

 

[izak]

Very fine debut, happy for the lad, Shaw is going to have to really step up now.

 

[Alemar]

He shouldn’t be taking corners. Seriously, those were bad. Malacia was great in everything else
Tonight, though - fair play to the lad! Deserves a starting place over Shaw

 

[Laurencio]

What a player, tenacity, fight, technique, pace, determination. The kid has it all. If he keeps this up Shaw will struggle to make the team. 14M, what a steal.

 

[Wicked_Badger]

I said it in the match thread too, & it’s a weird thought, but he seems more left-footed than Shaw. Something about his body shape when defending or his tackling. Does Shaw lead with his right a bit more maybe?

Anyway, fantastic first start. Brilliant tenacity & engine.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Superb defensive effort tonight. Hopefully get to see what he does going forwards soon.

 

[the_cliff]

After watching one game of him in pre season I said it's only a matter of time till he starts over Shaw.

I didn't expect it to be this quick though...

Martinez and Varane are getting all the plaudits but the way he dealt with one of the best wingers in the league was incredible. Did commit himself a bit too early sometimes but damn if he didn't give Salah a torrid time.

 

[kundalini]

Impressive performance. Recovered well several times.

 

[McGrathsipan]

Outstanding

Very promising from him

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

He's hungry in a way that Luke Shaw doesn't understand.

 

[Duffy]

It was nice for once to see a United left back be where I'd expect him to be rather than everywhere else.

In addition to his excellent positioning he was great and sharp in ever aspect of his game. Huge upgrade.

 

[matherto]

Like him an awful lot.

He clearly gives a feck about himself and the club he plays for.

Massively refreshing.

 

[The United]

Love his energy and intensity.

 

[Bastian]

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Easy to love.

 

[Adam-Utd]

notice how he never let salah inside on his left once? every time he forced him down the outside which gave him a chance to catch back up with him when he hesitated.

I bet he really relished playing against Salah. This kid is our future 100%

 

[VivaRonaldo85]

Excellent performance. This lad gave us everything Shaw has not been the last 12 months. He’s earned his spot in the team now and it’s for shaw to try and get back in.

 

[Globule]

I said it in the match thread too, & it’s a weird thought, but he seems more left-footed than Shaw. Something about his body shape when defending or his tackling. Does Shaw lead with his right a bit more maybe?

Anyway, fantastic first start. Brilliant tenacity & engine.

I may be talking nonsense, but after reading your post it does feel like Shaw's first touch is often to cushion the ball into his body, so that it's more central between his feet rather than knocking it out to his left. Maybe it's with the intention of being able to go right or left easier and making it harder for opposition players to read his direction.

That's going from memory, so I wouldn't be surprised if I just saw him do it a couple of times and it warped my memory.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

 

[abailey123]

I think we’ve just found our next Patrice Evra.
What a find!!!

 

[T_Model101]

Incredible signing tbh, after pissing away hundreds of millions for years
We have unearthed a diamond
For like £14M

 

[Irwin99]

Brilliant performance. The recoveries in particular were fantastic as there were a few instances where I thought Salah had got away from him only for Malacia to get back in time to snuff out the danger.

If we're being picky his corner taking was a bit hit and miss. One very good cross in the second half though.

 

[Varane around town]

Thought he was incredible today.

Reminded me of Pat Evra.

I think we've discovered a gem here.

 

[Dominos]

Was really worried for him today getting his first start against Salah of all players.

Absolutely fantastic. So aggressive and has good pace.

 

[Eyepopper]

Lads gonna be a star.

You know it when you see him balling out his captain like this in his first game.

this?

 

[TheGame]

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[lex talionis]

What an impressive performance. We've found our man.

 

[TheGame]

Not sure how I can say this with our transfer history but this looks like a shrewd bit of business by us.

 

[criticalanalysis]

I was nervous for him tonight. Elated he did so well. Very typical Malacia performance. Unpolished at times, but bursting with energy and eagerness. Wonder what he will add offensively against weaker opposition.

Not sure why he takes corners

Yes that's what I thought today.

Money well spent. I think it's inevitable that he will make some glaring mistakes because his positioning is a bit too eager to dive in and get touch tight but I love his mentality. He's gonna have to learn now and get that out of his system now whilst we are still rebuilding.

As long as he keeps up the intensity when providing an outlet, on the overlap I think he'll do fine. I've noticed he loves to hold onto the ball to play it more and taking on an extra touch to create openings when he's in his own half. It's risky but I'm all for it as we need ball carriers.

Improve a lot, , sure there's always a potential, but he's already looking like bringing more to the table than Shaw. Very solid in defence and positive going forward. His basic level is already good enough because, his reactions, aggression and attitude is great. If he improves a lot we have a world class player.


He will have a few highlights from this game but the one I loved was when he went for a sliding tackle on Salah near the corner made a contact but didn't quite win it only to instantly get up and get the ball first to prevent the corner. Can't see Shaw ever doing this unfortunately (for him).

What's the best about him is his mentality to play on the front foot and aggression, with Casemiro, no Ronaldo and a couple of good additions we can start to build a modern team finally.

That was hilarious. He sprinted to slide in, missed it completely, got up and sprinted again to get the second time

 

[UnofficialDevil]

We need to find the RB version of him.

We do!

 

[Stobzilla]

We need to find the RB version of him.

He's on loan at QPR.

 

[Red the Bear]

Make that his performance thread's profile picture.

 

[Bondi77]

Great defensive display.